Afghanistan Times
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By Farhad Naibkhel-KABUL: Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) on Sunday said that insecurity, technical problems and poor monitoring programs are main factors that hampered the important energy projects.
Briefing news reporters on the 100-day action plan, the minister Ali Ahmad Osmani said that even a single hydro-power dam or energy project could not be completed in the country in the past due to lack of comprehensive monitoring programs. He said that most of the energy and water projects had poor quality and were not completed on time.
“Absence of monitoring teams and lack of professional staff with the private firms that received contracts are other serious challenges. Currently, six big water dam projects are underway. These projects were not completed as per the schedule,” the minister said.
Osmani further said that according to assessments, the Almar project in Faryab province was halted or work speed was slowed down due to insecurity and financial problems of the companies. In Shah Aros project, more money has been paid than the construction work carried out. Lack of banking security by the contractor in Pashtan project in Herat, and financial issues between the partner companies in Machalgho project, have created challenges for the ministry as work on the projects were stopped.
He said that private properties, located at the route of the projects, were also a barrier in front of the ministry. “There are problems when we speak of energy sector because no attention was paid to electricity production in the master plan, but plans were available only for imported power,” he pointed out.
The minister vowed to address these challenges with cooperation of the relevant organizations. He also assured of completing the projects according to the timetable given in the contracts.
Attraction of investors in energy sector with additional facilities, fight against corruption, reforms and capacity building programs were underlined as top priorities by the minister in his 100-day action plan.
