GHAZNI CITY (PAN): Top officials of southern Ghazni province on Tuesday accused the provincial reconstruction team (PRT) and the administration of corruption in executing development projects.
Deputy Governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi cited administrative corruption as a reason for incomplete projects in Ghazni. Contracts for most projects involved "underhand deals", he alleged.
"The roots of corruption stretch to ministries and the central government, a phenomenon that cannot be easily dealt with," the deputy governor admitted.
He said projects worth less than $5,000 had been implemented in Ghazni by the ministries concerned over the past one decade. He said the PRT once pledged $20 million for development schemes in 2012, but later backed out of its promise.
The provincial council deputy head, Abdul Jami, said the local administration was rife with graft and the central government lacked the ability to tackle the problem. As a result mafia groups have come into being.
He said the mafia was involved in grabbing public and private lands in the guise of building townships. Jami added land mafia had blocked the distribution of plots to their owners at five townships.
He also claimed that buildings for police headquarters in some districts had been constructed at a cost of more than $2.2 million, while such a building cost less than $300,000.
He said when the provincial council attempted to stop construction work on a similar project in the Deh Yak district, the interior minister phoned him and asked him not to create hurdles.
Jami also said they had introduced three departmental heads involved in corruption to the attorney office, but the office had no courage to interrogate them.
Kubra Matin, a resident of Ghazni City, said she had qualified an exam for the appointment of teachers, but when she visited the department, she was asked for 50,000 afghanis in bribe for the post.