TALUQAN (PAN): Officials of Takhar said hundreds of rehabilitation projects had been completed in the province but people were of the opinion the region still direly needed construction of hospitals, bridges, dams and infrastructure.
Completion of hundreds of development projects would help benefit millions of residents of the province, officials said.   
Locals demanded expansion of the airport in Takhar, which would facilitate a large number of people. Despite the current development projects, multiple roads were in dilapidated conditions, the youths were suffering from unemployment and farmers were in dire need of cold storage facilities, an official said.
Mostafa Rasooli, head of technical assistance of Takhar informed more than 2,770 projects had been completed in the provincial capital and 16 districts since 2009.
He said construction of bridges; culverts, roads, schools, clinics, protecting walls; dams and facilities of drinking water were parts of the rehabilitation projects.
Authorities had been striving to train women in terms of vocational training and providing them with employment opportunities, he added.
Around one million people would be benefited from the projects, while thousands other would be able to find permanent employment opportunities, he assured.
He told Pajhwok Afghan News a total of $ 437 million fund extended by the World Bank would be spent on projects under the national solidarity program. 
Projects would be implemented following broad-based consultations with different government sectors such as agriculture, rural development, public work, women affairs, social affairs, irrigation, education, public health departments and national peace council.
Head of Takhar technical assistance said implementation of rehabilitation projects had heralded progress and prosperity to the province, adding people had now access to several facilities.
He held out assurances problems of the residents would be removed once the remaining rehabilitation projects were completed during the current fiscal year.
The projects would be completed with a cost of $25 million, he said, adding public health, education, transportation and other departments would supervise the projects.“The residents of Takhar needs construction of hospitals, roads and bridges linking the provicial capital with disticts, electircity supply projects, expansion of airport, establishment of industrial parks and rehabilition of forest sector,” he remarked. 
He said women would be provided with skills to further promote the handicraft industry, which would help remove their economic woes.
 
A matter of greater concern was the delay of early implementation of schools, university, government departments and electricity projects on Kokcha River, he noted.
 
Sanatullah Taimour, spokesman of Takhar governor said work on constructing multiple projects was underway, promising some of the projects would be completed the current year.
 
Giving minutes detail of the projects, he said the schemes included construction of 25-kilometres Frakhar- Warj Road, 200- bed hospital in Taluqan city, export of electricity from Tajikistan to Takhar, protection of Taluqan River beach, asphalting of 52- kilometres ring road in Taluqan city, connecting six district of the province through 180- kilometres long road and construction of 50 bed-hospital in Rastaq district.
 
He said projects for current year would be built at a total cost of $50 million extended by foreign countries including Germany.
Abdul Rashid Rasooli, head of provincial economic department said problems of people witnessed record decrease following implementation of rehabilitation projects in last few years.
He informed work on construction of 300-kilometres road in various districts was underway, linking far-flung areas of Kokcha region with provincial capital. 
The Kokcha region includes Dasht-i-Qala, Yang-i-Qala, Darqad, Khawaja Bahawuddin, Khawajah Ghar and the frontier Rustaq districts.
Rasool, informed a total of 800-kilometers road was needed to be constructed in order to remove the transportation problem in Takhar province.
He appreciated the rehabilitation programs launched by NGOs, saying several projects by the non government organizations helped benefit residents of the province.
Residents acknowledged unemployment graph dropped the current year as compared to the past 12 years.
Jalaluddin, a resident of Taluqan city said: “I did not have job during Taliban regime and I had to return without getting any job despite several attempts. I am now the owner of my own construction company.”
He said most of the people had now their own business or employs in government of private departments.
The role of women in various sectors had been accelerated during the past several years taking part in the building of their country.
A decade ago, women were not allowed to come out of their houses for work but now the situation had totally different.
Now, women were in competition with their male compatriots in almost all fields of life.
In recent years, work on various projects of women importance had been launched including women empowerment, vocational training for women and enhancing their handicraft skills.
The handicraft products of Takhar were being exported to Tajikistan which earned decent revenue, bolstering economy of families associated with the business.