New health facility opened in Kandahar

Last week, a new health facility was opened in Afghanistan’s southern province of Kandahar, according to Afghan media reports. The facility, which took a year to build, at a cost of $200,000 was opened in the Maroof district. Funding for the project came from the United States. According to the Bakhtar News Agency (BNA), the clinic will be open 24 hours and will be staffed with 16 medical professionals. People will be able to go this clinic to take care of basic medical needs, vaccinations as well as minor surgeries. The clinic will not only provide medical services for residents of Maroof, but 10 other nearby villages as well, according to the BNA report.

February 5, 2012 · admin · No Comments
Posted in: Health News, Reconstruction and Development

Modern health facility to be built in Herat

Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN) reported today that the foundation stone for modern 50-bed hospital was laid in the Shindand district of western Herat province. The stone was laid in a ceremony attended by Afghanistan’s acting Public Health Minster, Dr. Suraya Dalil, US military official, and local Afghan officials. The $5.4 million funding for the project will come from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the project is expected to be completed in 18 months. According to the PAN report, the one-story structure will be built on 15 acres of land, and will have an emergency unit, a laboratory, surgical, maternity wards, and an outdoor patient department (OPD). The facility will have modern medical equipment, added the report.

January 28, 2012 · admin · No Comments
Posted in: Health News, Reconstruction and Development

Afghanistan to receive grant to boost electricity production

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance announced this weekend that an agreement has been signed where the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will grant Afghanistan with $75.4 million. The money is going to be used to boost electricity production so that more than 50,000 residents of Gerishk district in Helmand province will have electricity.

According to Afghan media reports, 30 kilometers of electric lines will be replaced, and electricity distribution, and measurement systems will be installed. The work will be done by the Afghan Breshna Corporation, which operates and manages electric power generation, import, transmission, and distribution throughout Afghanistan on a commercial basis. The work is expected to be completed in two years.

This project will not only make life much easier for the residents of this Helmandi district, but it will also create hundreds of jobs, said Omar Zakhilwal, Afghanistan’s Minister of Finance.

January 22, 2012 · admin · One Comment
Posted in: Afghanistan's Economy, Job Creation, Reconstruction and Development

Reports: Mega poultry farm to be setup in Nangarhar and a new school building inaugurated in Faryab

The foundation stone for a mega poultry farm was laid yesterday in the Kama district of Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar, according to a Pajhwok Afghan News report. Senior officials told the news agency that it will employ over 1000 Afghan men and women, and that the project is expected to take three and half years to complete. Mohammad Asif Rahimi, Afghanistan’s Agriculture Minister, said in a news conference that the project will boost the local economy, and serve as a good alternative to poppy cultivation in the province.

Last week, Afghanistan’s Bakhtar News Agency reported that a new building for a middle school in the Doulatabad district of Faryab province was inaugurated. According to Afghan education ministry officials, the new building took one year to build, and it has seven classrooms, 4 administrative rooms, as well as other educational facilities.

January 16, 2012 · admin · 2 Comments
Posted in: Afghanistan's Economy, Education, Job Creation, Reconstruction and Development, Women's Rights

Building for a clinic opened in Parwan and a bridge inaugurated in Kunar

Last week, Afghanistan’s Bakhtar News Agency reported that a 10 room building for a medical clinic was opened in the Shinwari district of Parwan province. The building was constructed at a cost of more than $150,000; the funding for the project was provided by the Japanese government. The clinic will provide health services to the more than 20,000 residents of the district.

Today, Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN) reported that a 300 meters long and 10 meters wide bridge was inaugurated in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Kunar. The bridge is on the Kunar River in the Sawaki district. The bridge was built at a cost of $4.5 million; the funding for the project came from the United States. The bridge took 3 years to build, according to the PAN report.

January 8, 2012 · admin · No Comments
Posted in: Afghanistan's Economy, Health News, Reconstruction and Development

Afghanistan signs major oil deal with China

Wahidullah Shahrani, Afghan Minister of Mines

Afghanistan signed a major oil exploration contract with a Chinese company (China National Petroleum Corp) today in Kabul.

The deal will develop three oil fields in northern Afghanistan (Sar-e-pul and Faryab provinces). Wahidullah Shahrani, Afghanistan’s Minister of Mines, told the media that the deal could bring in about $7 billion to Afghanistan over the next 25 years.

The minister said that the Chinese will start to bring in their experts and equipment to the site in a month, however, the practice work (extraction) is expected to begin in October 2012.

December 28, 2011 · admin · 3 Comments
Posted in: Afghanistan's Economy, Environmental Issues, Reconstruction and Development

Improvements to be made to Herat airport and construction work starts on major dam

Afghanistan’s Tolo news reported today that the Italian government has agreed to provide Afghanistan with a $240 million long-term loan to renovate and standardize Herat International Airport. The construction of a new terminal is also on the project list.

Meanwhile in the southwestern province of Nimroz, construction work has begun on the Kamal Khan Dam, according to a report today from Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN). According to PAN, the dam is being constructed over the Helmand river. Nearly 40,000 acres of land would come under irrigation and 8.5 megawatts of electricity would be produced with the completion of the project, a government official told PAN.

December 18, 2011 · admin · No Comments
Posted in: Afghanistan's Economy, Environmental Issues, Reconstruction and Development

Afghan cricket team victorious again!

Afghanistan's National Cricket Team With Their Trophy

Afghanistan took on Hong Kong, and defeated them by 8 runs in the final match of the 2011 Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Twenty20 Cup. This is the second time that Afghanistan has won this tournament. After winning the coin toss, Afghanistan chose to bat first. They scored 125 runs losing all wickets in 19.5 overs. Hong Kong was kept at 117 runs in 19.2 overs. The highest runs for the Afghan side came from Gulbodin Naib with 57 followed by Mohammad Nabi with 24. The man of the match honors went to star bowler Hamid Hassan. Afghan coach Dawlat Ahmadzai told reporters that “It’s a big day for Afghanistan, as we defended our title.” The match was played in Tribhuvan University, located in Nepal.

December 11, 2011 · admin · One Comment
Posted in: Afghan Sports News

Japan to provide $17 million to Afghanistan

The government of Japan has pledged $17 million dollars to Afghanistan so it can be used to improve access to drinking water, electricity, and to boost agriculture.

According to Afghan media reports, the money will be given to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Energy and Water. The head of the ministry, Mohammad Ismael Khan, told reporters that $10 million will be spent in Kabul in order to provide more people with clean drinking water and electricity. Khan said that a hydro power dam will be constructed in the Shakardara valley. Khan also added that the remaining $7 million will be spent in Afghanistan’s central Bamiyan province. The money will be used to construct small dams in order to produce electricity and small water canals to boost agriculture in the province.

November 27, 2011 · admin · No Comments
Posted in: Reconstruction and Development

New school building and police logistics center to built in Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education announced today that a foundation stone laying ceremony has been held for a new school building that will be built for the Haidar Khani High School in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Laghman. Afghan officials, students and teachers attended the ceremony, according to the announcement. Funding for the project will come from a Danish agency. The project is expected to be completed in 8 months, and the building will have 8 classrooms, 4 administrative rooms, and 5 restrooms.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Nangarhar province, Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN) reported today that the foundation stone for a police logistics center has been laid. The center will be built at a cost of $20 million on 30 acres of land, an official told PAN. Funding for the project is being provided by the United States. Per the report, the center will have 50 buildings, and they will “facilitate logistic supplies to Afghan National Police (ANA) and Afghan Border Police (ABP) in Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar and Nuristan provinces”. The project is part of an overall greater project to hand off security responsibilities to the Afghans themselves.

November 13, 2011 · admin · No Comments
Posted in: Education, Reconstruction and Development, Security in Afghanistan

Electricity To Come To Thousands In Eastern Afghanistan

According to a Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN) report published yesterday, thousands of families living in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Laghman will have electricity by this coming March.

Mohibur Rahman Momand, the Nangarhar Water and Energy Director announced at a press conference on Tuesday that sixty percent of the work on the Ghochako substation, in Surkhrod district, has already been completed. According to the PAN report, he also stated that the remaining forty percent of the work will be completed by December, and that transmission lines will be extended from Kherokhel to Jalalabad. Momand also said that there has been an increase of six megawatts in the capacity to produce power at the Daronta Dam, which supplies electricity to the residents of Jalalabad, from 9pm to 11pm.

Finally, the report added that the Laghman Power Department Manager said electricity will be supplied 24 hours a day to all the villages of Qarghayee district and Mehtarlam thanks to the installation of 13 new transformers.

November 2, 2011 · admin · One Comment
Posted in: Reconstruction and Development

Reports: Work on Samangan road launched; Retaining wall built in Baghlan

Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN) reported today that construction work on a 15km road was launched in the Khuramsar Bagh district of Afghanistan’s northern province of Samangan today. A provincial public works department officer told PAN that the road will be 6 meters wide and will take 4 months to complete. Once completed, the road will significantly reduce travel time between the remote villages and the district center. Traders and farmers will reduce their travel by as much as 100km. The project is being funded by the Ministry of Public Works and is expected to cost $300,000.

Meanwhile in neighboring Baghlan province, construction work on a retaining wall on the embankment of the Kuhna Darya river was recently completed, according to a report yesterday from the Bakhtar News Agency. The wall was built at a cost of $25,000. The wall will protect homes near the river from being flooded due to seasonal water rises.

October 31, 2011 · admin · No Comments
Posted in: Afghanistan's Economy, Environmental Issues, Reconstruction and Development