UN-backed project paves roads around Afghan city to improve communication links

The first phase of a United Nations-funded project to pave and improve the standard of roads around the southern Afghan city of Kandahar has opened for public use, the UN mission to the country reports.

The stretch of two-lane road in Kandahar was paved by the Afghan public works department with support from the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), UNAMA said yesterday.

About 35 kilometres of road in and around Kandahar are being paved or rehabilitated as part of the project, which is part of the broader “hamkari” or international cooperation plan that aims to boost security and enhance good governance in Afghanistan.

Nader Shah Agha, UN-Habitat director in Kandahar, noted that “roads are essential means of communication” in Afghanistan, where communities are often isolated by poor transport links and insecurity caused by the Taliban and other insurgent elements.