GHAZNI CITY (PAN): The Ministry of Information and Culture has launched reconstruction work on more than a dozen historical monuments in Ghazni City, the capital of southern Ghazni province. A day earlier, Deputy Information and Culture Minister Ghulam Nabi Farahi, who visited the city, inaugurated the rebuilding process as part of preparatory work ahead of 2013 when the city is to serve as the Asian capital of the Islamic civilisation. Farahi told the inauguration ceremony that the renovation was estimated to cost $11 million to be provided by the ministry, which also planned to complete other reconstruction schemes by 2013. Critical of several ministries, Governor Musa Khan Akbarzada said he was optimistic that Ghazi City would be ready for the 2013 ceremony. He said work on 40 projects would be launched once the Ministry of Defence shifted the Afghan National Army’s 203rd Thunder Military Corps to another location that had already been identified. He said the army had occupied the area where the proposed Islamic Cultural Centre was to be built. Residents believe the government would not be able to rebuild all sites in the remaining few months before the deadline expires. Dweller Mohammadullah told Pajhwok Afghan News since the city was selected the Asian capital of the Islamic civilisation, a number of high-ranking officials had visited it and retuned with promises that were yet to be honoured. “The people of Ghazni are tired of waiting to see government officials keep their promises,” he said, adding seven years had gone by, but reconstruction work worth less than $5 million had been done so far. Ghazni City was selected to serve as the capital next year by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) at a conference held in Tripoli, Libya, in 2007.