PARIS, Oct. 18 (Nouvelle Solidarité) – An article published today by Deutsche Welle (DW) reports that the Taliban want to start fixing Afghanistan’s crumbling roads, but work cannot move forward without the now-suspended foreign aid payments that had kept former projects afloat.
One day after U.S. forces left Afghanistan in August, Taliban official Inamullah Samangani said in a speech that the war was over and that the Taliban would now focus on rebuilding Afghanistan’s economy. “Since then, the Taliban have announced several road construction projects. These include the route from Kabul to Maidan Shahr, the capital of nearby Wardak Province, in Gardez, the capital of Paktia to the east, and projects in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Logar.
“However, a repaving project of the road over the Salang Pass 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Kabul is especially important. The route connects Kabul, and by extension, all of southern and eastern Afghanistan, with the northern parts of the country. The road over the pass has fallen into serious disrepair. In September, the Taliban marked the start of roadwork at the Salang Pass with a televised ceremony. Taliban officials gave speeches and underscored how they will make good on their promises and bring progress and prosperity. ... The work at Salang Pass is set to repair, for a total cost of $660,000, some 30 km of road, comprising two stretches of 15 km on each side of the pass, said Mohammad Ashraf Haqshinas, the Taliban spokesman for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Works.”
But, DW explains, given that the Taliban appointed “people on terrorist black lists to key positions in their new government, most international aid to Afghanistan is currently suspended, despite international pledges to continue supporting the country’s economy. Additionally, the Afghan government’s accounts have been frozen, and the Taliban’s financial resources are limited.” Bilal Tawab Construction Company, contracted by the former government to repair the road, told DW its machinery sits by the roadside: “The reason for this is that the suspension of U.S. funding led to lack of funds in the new Afghan government,” a company representative told DW. He estimated that almost 90% of all road construction projects in Afghanistan are facing the same fate.
Taliban officials in Watapoor District in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province showed DW a printed-out scheme for plans to rebuild roads in several villages. The Taliban’s governor’s office in Kunar even tweeted pictures of work being done on a road. [https://twitter.com/KpgoSpokesman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1440857603475652616%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dw.com%2Fen%2Fafghanistan-taliban-road-construction-projects-stall-without-foreign-funding%2Fa-59536988] A young Taliban member said that the situation gets worse every day. “I don’t say that the Emirate can’t resolve the situation,” he said, referring to the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. “But without money you can’t build anything.” (https://www.dw.com/en/afghanistan-taliban-road-construction-projects-stall-without-foreign-funding/a-59536988)