By Ensign Christopher Weis
Provincial Reconstruction Team Khost Public Affairs
KHOST CITY, Afghanistan -- Gulzar Aka, a tribal elder from the Matun District, Khost province has seen first hand the detriments of poor road conditions in this rugged land.
He vividly explains how, after decades of war and neglect, the often flooded, bumpy dirt roads to Khost City slow access to the provincial hospital, impede trade among outlying districts and produce a cloud of dust that blankets shops and homes along the narrow route.
On June 28, with the groundbreaking ceremony marking the pavement of a $300,000, 3 kilometer stretch of the Matun-Gulzar road, all that is set to change.
"These are happy days for Afghans and Americans, working together to build roads," Gulkar said as he watched the construction team break ground on the project.
This is just the beginning, however, for the efforts in Khost according to the commanding officer, Cmdr. Dave Adams. Over the next several weeks his team, Provincial Reconstruction Team Khost, will sign contracts for over 3 million dollars in roads that connect hundreds of villages to Khost City and the rest of Afghanistan.
Roads are the top priority for the people and local government under the leadership of Arsala Jamal, governor of Khost province.
"This is a project I have been waiting for." Jamal explained in his speech.
Jamal went on to emphasize how roads reduce the chance that villages will be isolated from each other and their government. They increase trade between villages and bolster security, creating more stability and commerce.
In a province that currently has no paved roads connecting it to the rest of Afghanistan and the capital, Kabul, every inch of paved road makes a huge difference. The Matun-Gulzar road is just the latest of over forty reconstruction projects in which PRT Khost has teamed with the Afghan government to inaugurate this year.
"By providing our Afghan friends with roads, schools, and fresh drinking water, the government of Afghanistan provides hope. The enemy," Adams stressed, "they offer no hope at all."
| Date Taken: | 06.27.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 07.01.2007 05:53 |
| Story ID: | 11053 |
| Location: | KHOST, AF |
| Web Views: | 1,444 |
| Downloads: | 1,313 |
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