$100-mn worth projects offered to Paktia province

Gardiz: Reconstruction and development ventures costing around 100 million dollars have been offered to southeastern Paktia province for its developmental projects.

Mahfooz Ahmad Economy department director in the province and head of Provincial Development Committee said 141 projects have been prepared and awarded to the province in one year through painstaking efforts by PDC.

The projects would cost over 100 million US dollar with some of them already completed and remaining under completion, he added.

Most of the projects have been implemented by LGCD program funded by USAID, he added, the committee was dysfunctional in Paktia in the past however with the technical assistance of the consultants there is great difference and change now.

Office personnel had no knowledge of proposal writing and reporting and project design however with the technical support of the consultants they managed to get many projects awarded.

'All personnel use computer in their daily work and render the activities with the support of computer.' He added.

They work based on the national strategy on all the projects and therefore around 50 of their personnel were imparted training by technical consultants of the LGCD, he added.

Five member technical working group in the province visit the projects and had meetings every two weeks, he added.

Zabihullah deputy director of Economy department in the province praised assistance from LGCD consultants, he added :'they could not develop so far as they did unless they had LGCD support.'
With the establishment of the eye section the hospital by the help of LGCD peoples problem faced due to lack of eye clinic had been solved, he argued people were not taking their patients to Pakistan or Iran for eye treatment anymore.

Shafiqullah a resident of Gardiz told Pajhwok Afghan News he intended to take his uncle who was suffering from an eye problem to Pakistan but refused to do so when he found out about the eye center in the local hospital.