Government to build road to china

KABUL: The Public Welfare Ministry has announced pans to build a highway connecting Afghanistan with China in an effort to ease trade between the two countries.

About 18,000km of road in Afghanistan needs reconstruction, but only about 4,000 km of road has been resurfaced and rebuilt, or is under construction.

Road rebuilds have cost about $2.5 billion so far, the ministry said.

The ministry blamed the rise in the amount of goods transported along the country’s roads for their deterioration.

More than 15 million tonnes of merchandise is exported to Uzbekistan alone every year, putting enormous pressure on the roads north, the ministry said.

The ministry aims to pave about 70% of the country’s roads.

The technical deputy at the ministry, Ahmad Wali Rasoli, said: "We are planning to build Afghanistan’s ring-roads for the first time. Then we have some other plans to implement too.

"We are also planning to reconstruct the country’s highways in order to solve the merchants’ problems and provide them with transportation facilities."

The ministry said the first part of the new road between Maidan Wardak and Bamiyan is 30% complete and the second part, which involves rebuilding the road from Maidian Wardak to Oni, will begin soon.