Helmand starts work on Civilian Airport, welfare projects

Lashkargah: Construction work on a civilian airport and a number of agriculture and other common welfare projects, accounting for 45 million US dollars, has commenced in the insurgency-torn province of Helmand.

Governor Gulab Mangal, in an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, said a number of ministers, foreign and local officials and donor representatives attended the inaugural ceremony for the airport in the Lashkargah.

Agriculture and Livestock Minister Obaidullah Ramin, Deputy Transportation and Aviation Minister Eng. Raz Muhammad, Deputy Ambassador of US Christopher Dell, officials of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and tribal elders were among the attendees.

In his speech at the opening ceremony, Mangal thanked the American government and the US Agency for International Development for their generous assistance to the world’s biggest drug-producing region. He referred to a string of development schemes undertaken by the US in Helmand.

Forty years back, the governor recalled, the US had executed massive projects like canals and the Kajaki dam in the province. Parks, factories and fruit storage facilities funded by the USAID would also be constructed, Mangal added while highlighting Washington’s cooperation.

The airport and other schemes are being executed as part of a 165 million dollar assistance package from the United States for the violence-haunted southern provinces of Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Obaidullah Ramin said. An amount of 25 million dollars will be spent on agriculture development and gardening projects in the province.

Speaking on the occasion, Christopher Dell reiterated his country’s commitment to the development of the province. He said much of the US assistance would focus on developing the agriculture sector so as to obviate the need for poppy cultivation. In the long run, he hoped, Helmand would be able to produce and export fruits.

When completed, the diplomat continued, the schemes would bring about a great revolution in the lives of residents in Helmand province, locals hope. Qasim Jafri, a resident of Lashkargah, cited insecurity as the biggest factor behind Helmand’s backwardness.
Travelers often encountered security problems on their way to central parts of the country, he said, hoping the concern would be removed once flight operations began.

Haji Naeem, a farmer from the Greshk district, was happy over the fruit storage facilities being established in the province. 'The fruits we have here rot before we manage to carry them to the marketplace. Our produce would be sold out in time and help our economy once the storage facilities are in place.'