KABUL (SW): Protests have emerged in southern Helmand and south eastern Khost and Paktia provinces against forces allegedly disputing a national project TUTAP for personal gains.
Protest demonstrations took place in Gardez, Khost City and Lashkargah on Monday. The participants stressed upon the government not to be pressurized by those demanding the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TUTAP) project to be passed through Bamiyan. The protesters charged that they equally deserve the electricity hence the original plan to pass the transmission cables via Salang Pass should be pursued.
Rauf Khan Zadran, head of Paktia’s civil society organization, said that no one would be allowed to deprive the people of their due right. Abdulwali Wahidzai, head of Khost civil society, said during the demonstration in Khost City that the residents in south eastern parts of the country would not accept changing the TUTAP rout.
President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani was urged no to be blackmailed by the pseudo ethnic leaders.
In southern Helmand province, Sardar Mohammad Hamdard, head of the provincial civil society organisation, said that the undermining the potential of such big national projects for mere personal gains is unfortunate.
He stressed that those hindering such progress should be brought to justice.
Earlier this week, the Second Vice President Sarwar Danish among a number of other leaders expressed their public opposition to TUTAP being conceived via the Salang Pass. President Ghani said in his address to the nation on Monday that the project would be reviewed and views of all side would be heard before the final decision in this regard.
ENDS
