Date of Release: 17 October 2006
President Karzai Chairs a Meeting of the Policy Action Group
Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, chaired a meeting of the Policy Action Group (PAG) yesterday evening at the Gulkhana palace.
The meeting focused on reconstruction and development programs for the provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan and Zabul.
Hanif Atmar, Minister of Education, who heads the reconstruction and development section of PAG, explained the current status of reconstruction and development projects in these provinces and said people in the districts of these provinces call on the Government and the international community to assist them with construction of roads, irrigation channels, schools, health clinics and the growth of agriculture.
Mr. Atmar explained the priorities of the people of these provinces and briefed the participants on the status of ongoing projects currently being implemented by the Government and the international community, and those projects which have been stopped due to security problems.
Mr. Atmar also spoke in detail on how those projects which have been stopped can restart, and to attract more assistance to the area. He also gave information about financial problems facing the projects and asked for further cooperation from the Ministry of Finance and the international community.
So far, US$ 164 million for the province of Helmand, US$ 92 million for the province of Kandahar, US$ 44 million for the province of Uruzgan and US$ million for big, medium and small projects have been spent in the past five years.
The President emphasized the importance of reconstruction and development projects and instructed them to restart the reconstruction work of Kandahar-Helmand highway and the Kajaki power station. The team was assigned to gather accurate information about the projects which have been stopped due to security problems and present it to the next meeting.
The President also instructed the Minister of Finance to use the funds of those projects which are inactive for the implementation of those projects which can be implemented.
The President emphasized that the Ministry of Information and Culture should provide enough information to the people about the decisions taken to improve their lives in the mentioned provinces.
The Ambassador of Canada said that Canada will provide the national police and army with equipment and more funds for training in the near future.
Representative of the World Bank expressed her commitment to assist with the continuation of the NSP projects and other projects of the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.
Representative of the international community expressed their preparedness to transfer funds from inactive projects to ongoing projects in the provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan.
For further information, please contact:
Office of the Spokesman to the President
Tel.: 00 93 799 33 77 55
00 93 799 90 94 29
Released by the Office of the Spokesman to the President
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
