Sunday, November 15, 2015
Kabul (BNA) Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance yesterday signed a grant of$250 million from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank Group’s fund for the poorest countries, to improve road transport links across the Hindukush mountain range, including the rehabilitation of the Salang road and tunnel.
H.E. Eklil Hakimi the Minister of Finance thanked the World Bank for funding such kind of infrastructural project. This project is crucial for economic development of Afghanistan. The procurement process of the project will be implemented with transparency and accountability.
The new World Bank supported project – the Trans-Hindukush Road Connectivity Project – will develop the existing mountain crossings into dependable, all-season roads that will allow the movement of vital passenger traffic and goods across the Hindukush mountain range throughout the year. There are currently only two road crossings over the mountain range, with the Salang highway carrying most of the cross-Hindukush traffic. The other is the unpaved secondary crossing between Baghlan and Bamiyan. The project will carry out civil works for the upgrading of the Baghlan to Bamiyan road (152 km) to a paved road, as well as rehabilitate the Salang road and tunnel (87 km).
Being a mountainous country, more than 90 percent of Afghanistan’s freight and almost 85 percent of intercity passenger traffic are carried by road. And, while existing highways provide international links to Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, the country suffers from significant gaps in terms of connectivity and accessibility. Nearly 63 percent of the population lives more than two kilometers away from an all-season road. These gaps in transport infrastructure result in relative isolation of parts of the country and negatively affect regional and internal integration and trade.
“The preparation phase of this project has shown that our ministry is not only capable of designing such an important project, but also has the capacity to implement it effectively,” said HE Mahmoud Baligh, Minister of Public Works of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. “As we start implementation, our focus remains to ensure that the trans-Hindukush route is always open for traffic, even while we build the Bamyan to Baghlan road and rehabilitate the Salang pass.”
Built in the 1960s, and located between 2,500 and 3,400 meters above sea level, the Salang pass is a critical road that connects Afghanistan’s northern provinces and the Central Asian countries with the rest of the country and beyond to the countries of South Asia.
