Qalat undergoing major facelift with a dozen projects

June 29, 2009

KABUL (PAN): Qalat is beginning to undergo a major facelift with a dozen projects, costing nearly $1 million, designed to improve the citys economy and standard of living for its citizens, the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) said on Monday.

Focus of the work is on the culverts and drainage system in the city, where waste water from houses and businesses is overflowing the current drainage system. Many of the systems are located in the heart of the bazaar, where thousands of people pass through every week.

Zabul Governor Mohammad Ashraf Naseri said: "The projects that are taking place in the city are needed for the well-being and livelihood of the people of Qalat." The municipality, supported by the PRT, has made use of gutter grates to reduce the accumulation of trash in the drains.

Another new initiative that will improve sanitation in the city is removal of refuse to a local landfill and the implementation of local trash collection. Residents would be provided a place to deposit garbage for regular pick-up and removal, said a PRT statement.

Paving and graveling of roads around the city is another major project the local government is undertaking. The roads are not suitable to travel. Many of the roads in the city are not level, filled with holes and are basically unsafe for motorcycle and bicycle travel, said Naseri.

Supply of sustainable electric power is also being pursued as the PRTs USAID representative continues to work with the Ministry of Water and Energy to find a solution to the problems of revenue recovery for the Qalat City Power Plant. Successful revenue collection will allow the ministry to properly budget, eliminating extended outages resulting from fuel shortfalls.

The projects are made possible by Community Small Grants (CSGs) undertaken through the US Agency for International Development's Local Governance Community Development (LGCD) programme, consisting of small-scale municipal improvement projects.

This group of Municipal CSGs is the first time the grants have been specifically focused on the population centres like this.

"In addition to CSG, using Commanders Emergency Response Program (CERP) funding allows the PRT to supplement the Ministry of Rural Reconstruction Developments efforts to reconstruct some of Qalat's municipal infrastructure, said Lt. Col. Andy Torelli, PRT commander.

Efforts are being made to improve key roads, establish trash pick-up points, and cover open sewers with grates to prevent disease and unsanitary conditions," the commander concluded.