KUNDUZ CITY (SW): A number of residents in Qala-e-Zaal district in northern Kunduz province have criticized the government for its lack of attention to the district.
They said that the government have asphalted all the roads in other districts in the province except Qala-e-Zaal.
According to them, due to the poor condition of the road in the district, the residents have to take a different and longer route, which is time consuming in order to get to the center of the province.
These residents said that the horrible state of the road has faced them with major challenges when they shift their patients to the hospitals.
The main road in the district was graveled 8 months ago by a private company after signing a contract with the department of public work in the province.
Mahbubullah Sayeedi, Qala-e-Zaal district chief, has also expressed dissatisfaction over the state of affairs. He blamed the private contractors for low quality gravelling of the road.
The Provincial Council in Kunduz said in this regard that the company committed corruption while gravelling the road and that was why it turned to its previous condition before anyone could use it.
Asadullah Sadaat, a member at Kunduz Provincial Council, said that when they learnt about the poor quality of the gravelling process, they asked the company to stop it but they continued their work without letting the officials know about it.
Burhanuddin Shinwari, Head of Public Work Department in Kunduz, confirming the problem with the company, said that the World Bank and the Ministry of Public Works were planning to asphalt the road in Qala-e-Zaal but the prevailing insecurity impeded their plans. Asadullah said that there was no road in the district in the past but now the district has road and bridges.
He informed of an asphalting project by the World Bank, which would cover a 44-km road in the district but the insecurity caused the project to be delayed.
Qala-e-Zaal is a northeastern district in Kunduz with over 150,000 populations. The residents are mainly farmers.
ENDS
