Key road rehabilitated - but insecurity remains

Sebghatullah, 35, was extremely happy to have reached Kabul in under five hours from the southern province of Kandahar, a journey that used to take two days along the key highway rendered unservicable by years of war and neglect. "I had breakfast in Kandahar today and will have lunch in Kabul in a few minutes, it is now like a journey by plane," the father of four told IRIN in Durrani, a district of the central province of Vardak about 40 km south of Kabul. The first phase of the multimillion dollar-, 482-km Kabul to Kandahar highway, funded by the US, Japan and Saudi Arabia, was completed and officially opened by President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday. "Today we are in the first big happiness of Afghanistan reconstruction. We are opening the first rehabilitated Afghanistan highway, which is the prime desire of our people," he said, as he inaugurated the highway. He was joined by diplomats, ministers and tens of delegates attending the historic Constitutional Loya Jirga in Kabul. The Kabul-Kandahar highway is the key segment of Afghanistan's national road system. It links the country's two largest cities and economic centres and crosses four provinces. The reconstruction work has not only led to a significant reduction in travel times but increased economic opportunities for Afghans living near the road, and accelerated mine-clearance efforts. Of 20.6 million Afghans, 13.6 million, or 66 percent, live within 50 km of the nation's main roads and, according to USAID, 35 percent of the population lives within 50 km of the Kabul-Kandahar highway. "This road is about more than just transportation; it is a symbol of the tremendous commitment of the American people, as expressed by President Bush, to the people of Afghanistan to help them rebuild a war-torn nation. The personal and professional sacrifices of citizens from many nations made this achievement possible," Andrew Natsios, the administrator of USAID, said, adding that the work represented a significant international effort undertaken by the US, Japan, Turkey and India, with future participation of the government of Saudi Arabia. To date, US $190 million had been spent on the first phase, while another estimated total of $270 million would have been be spent on completion, said USAID officials. "Phase II of the project, subject to weather conditions, will begin in the spring of 2004 and will entail the laying of asphalt, shoulders and road signage," Natsios said, adding that the whole project was scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2004. But insecurity on and near the key road will probably militate against increased usage in the near future. More than a dozen aid workers have been killed and many wounded when their convoys or bases were attacked by armed men on the highway since 2002. The latest and most alarming was the murder in mid-November of Bettina Goislard, a 29-year-old French national working for the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees in the southern city of Ghazni, as a result of which the UN refugee agency withdrew its international staff and postponed movements on the highway. Those working on the road itself have also been targeted. In early November, a Turkish engineer was kidnapped by the resurgent Taliban, but later released. However, two Indians working for a construction company are still missing ever since they were abducted by unidentified men while travelling on the highway in the southern Zabol Province earlier this month. According to Louis Berger Group (LGB), a US-based agency implementing the highway rehabilitation, there is still instability along its length, especially in the southern sections, and LBG have experienced a number of incidents with suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda elements, including one resulting in the deaths of four of LBG's highway security personnel. LGB told IRIN that to deal with these threats, the interior ministry was deploying a large security force supported by USAID. Security personnel are assigned to fixed locations, while others patrol the road in vehicles. Nearly 1,000 Afghan security forces are currently providing security for the road-building project. According to the World Bank, the Afghan road network comprises about 6,000 km. The plan is to rehabilitate around 3,300 km, consisting of the ring road leading from Herat to Kandahar, Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Sheberghan, Meymaneh and back to Herat, and six international routes to neighbouring countries.