CHAGHCHARAN (PAN): Hundreds of people on Tuesday rallied against non-execution of reconstruction projects in western Ghor province, closing the Chaghcharan bazaar and the provincial council office.
After gathering at a mosque, the protestors, including civil society representatives, provincial council members, businessmen and residents, marched to the provincial capital, chanting: “We want electricity and asphalting of roads.”
Provincial council head, Fazal Haq Ihsan said: “We have joined the protestors because the government has failed over the past decade to focus on the development of the province.”
He told Pajhwok Afghan News poor residents of the province were unable to use generators. The highways linking Ghor with Kabul and Herat was yet to be asphalted, he said
Chaghcharan businessmen’s union head, Sultan Mohammad, said: “The absence of paved roads has sent prices of food items, construction materials and fuel soaring.” A bag of cement, selling for 250 afghanis in neighbouring Herat, cost 550 afs in Ghor, he complained.
Wolesi Jirga member Sima Joyenda warned residents would boycott the upcoming presidential election if government did not address their problems. The rulers had failed to honour their pledges of resolving Ghor residents’ problems, she alleged.
Started in morning, the peaceful protest ended around 1pm, with participants vowing to keep Chaghcharan bazaar and the provincial council office closed until their demands were met.
He would led a delegation of public representatives, Wolesi Jirga and tribal elders to Kabul to discuss the issue with President Hamid Karzai and ministers concerned, Governor Syed Anwar Allah Rahmati promised.
