Roundup: Road project delayed by worsening security situation, Afghanistan calls for more aid from China

The construction of a major road in Afghanistan is imperiled by the deteriorating security, a Chinese firm and Afghan officials said, rebutting a recent report from Western media that mismanagement from the Chinese side triggered the delay.

Xinjiang Beixin Road & Bridge Group Co. Ltd, a state-owned company of China, won the bid from the Afghan Ministry of Public Works in 2013 to build the 100-km Kabul-Jalalabad road.

The entire project is financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with the contract value at 110 million U.S. dollars.

"Beixin began the road construction work in April 2014 and is contracted to finish the whole project in April 2017. However, we are behind the timetable as the local security situation is getting worse as compared with the moment we signed the contract," Wang Tengjun, director of the Kabul-based management from the Chinese company, told Xinhua,

Dismissing the report from Western media as groundless, Wang said the delay was not resulted from the company's management change in Kabul but the worsened security situation.

A UN report released in September said that Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province, with Jalalabad as its capital, was one of the most militancy-plagued provinces in the country.

"We can say that the security (in Nangarhar) is seriously worsened since the beginning of 2015 as Daesh or Islamic State becomes much more active here. Right now, we have to fight against two enemies, Taliban and Daesh," a local security official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Therefore, Wang appealed for more security assistance from the Afghan government.

"Under the contract we signed with the Afghan government, the security should be provided by them," Wang said. "However, the number of security personnel deployed at the construction site is far less than we demanded. Our staff had been under attack for several times since the very beginning of our works."

Echoing Wang, Hamidullah Tolo, head of the Public Work Administration in Nangarhar, said, "Recently we are facing some security problems which caused delays on our work. We have applied for more security personnel to safeguard the project site."

"The frequent change of management from the consultant side (which is appointed by the Afghan government) is also somehow a drag for us," Wang said. "Without their proper coordination, we can hardly catch up the timetable."

He also said the project's consultant team had changed their management for four times, adding up more time cost for Beixin to coordinate with new management.

HELPING LOCALS

The completion of the Kabul-Jalalabad road is expected to boost the local economic development and community improvement.

A 30-km section from Jalalabad to Khogyani, a district in Nangarhar bordering Pakistan, was under construction.

Tolo told Xinhua that this project was very important for the locals.

"The new road could help ease the busy traffic on the existing one linking Kabul to Jalalabad and further boost trade and commercial activities between Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said.

Ghias Khan, a Khogyani resident working at the construction project, was grateful to the Afghan government and the Chinese firm Beixin as the Kabul-Jalalabad road project created jobs for the locals amid the sluggish job market nationwide.

"Around 120 local workers have been employed working on the 30-km road section, which accounts for 80 percent of the total workers employed here," said Ma Xinliang, deputy director and public relations manager of Beixin Kabul Office.

"We are happy to offer more job opportunities for the locals and make contribution to local community development. We are planning to build schools and clinics for the locals at their demands," Ma told Xinhua.

Beixin changed its management personnel earlier this year to accelerate the project and also enhanced their coordination with the ADB, the Afghan government and the new consultant team.

CHINA'S COMMITMENTS

The Chinese government has always been honoring its commitments to Afghanistan. With China's assistance, many projects aimed at improving local livelihood have been accomplished in recent years, including the Jumhoriate Hospital, the National Center for Science and Technology Education and the Chinese Language Department Teaching Building and Guest House of Kabul University.

In 2014, China pledged to aid Afghanistan up to 2 billion yuan (313 million U.S. dollars) during the 2014-2017 period, including a 500-million-yuan (78.2-million- U.S. dollar) project of low-cost apartments for the Afghan civil servants.

A 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck northeastern Afghanistan in late October. The Chinese government provided Afghanistan with emergency humanitarian relief supplies of 10 million yuan (1.56 million U.S. dollars) plus 1 million U.S. dollars in cash aid.

Sultan Ahmad Baheen, director of the third political desk from the Afghan Foreign Ministry which is in charge of China-related affairs, told Xinhua that Afghanistan felt happy and satisfied with China's contribution to Afghanistan's reconstruction and development.

"China has vigorously contributed to the reconstruction process in Afghanistan and helped our country in different sectors, ranging from infrastructure to education," said Baheen.

He also reiterated that the government of Afghanistan was satisfied with all the projects implemented by China over the past years.

Baheen also called for more aid and investment from both the Chinese government and companies in wider fields, especially in infrastructure and education. Endit