pakistani342
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2013
- Messages
- 3,485
- Reaction score
- 6
- Country
- Location
A very interesting article on Reuters here, excerpts below.
Notes:
1. Even China has challenges in Afghanistan that it doesn't fare elsewhere
2. Someone is attacking the project -- is it really Taliban or could it be India
3. Amrullah Saleh chimes in on the subject and slams Chinese developments
A new road linking the Afghan capital with a trade hub near Pakistan has been stuck in the slow lane since a state-owned Chinese company took the contract to build it two years ago, bedeviled by militant attacks and accusations of mismanagement.
...
The setbacks are also a reality check for China, as it seeks to bring stability to its war-ravaged neighbor in part through extensive investment.
...
"Overall, the company is far behind (on) the commitments they had given to us. We are not satisfied with the company's general performance," Mahmoud Baligh, Afghanistan's minister of public works, told Reuters, referring to the road project.
...
It is designed as an alternative to the overburdened and sometimes dangerous highway from Kabul east to Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province and a trade gateway to Pakistan.
According to Baligh, insurgents attacked the workers' camp several times at the start of the project, wounding some Afghans and halting work for three months.
A source familiar with the project, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said as little as 3 percent of construction was carried out in the first year.
...
While China has been hesitant to get involved directly in foreign entanglements, its companies have shown a greater willingness to engage in countries where security can be challenging, including Libya and South Sudan.
The Kabul-Jalalabad road project underscores for China just how complicated Afghanistan can be.
...
Amrullah Saleh, a politician and former chief of the Afghan national intelligence agency, said he feared the road project was another example of "loose commitment by a Chinese company".
"When they have a contract they can trash it or they can respect it. But they should also be mindful that we are neighbors," Saleh said.
Notes:
1. Even China has challenges in Afghanistan that it doesn't fare elsewhere
2. Someone is attacking the project -- is it really Taliban or could it be India
3. Amrullah Saleh chimes in on the subject and slams Chinese developments
A new road linking the Afghan capital with a trade hub near Pakistan has been stuck in the slow lane since a state-owned Chinese company took the contract to build it two years ago, bedeviled by militant attacks and accusations of mismanagement.
...
The setbacks are also a reality check for China, as it seeks to bring stability to its war-ravaged neighbor in part through extensive investment.
...
"Overall, the company is far behind (on) the commitments they had given to us. We are not satisfied with the company's general performance," Mahmoud Baligh, Afghanistan's minister of public works, told Reuters, referring to the road project.
...
It is designed as an alternative to the overburdened and sometimes dangerous highway from Kabul east to Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province and a trade gateway to Pakistan.
According to Baligh, insurgents attacked the workers' camp several times at the start of the project, wounding some Afghans and halting work for three months.
A source familiar with the project, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said as little as 3 percent of construction was carried out in the first year.
...
While China has been hesitant to get involved directly in foreign entanglements, its companies have shown a greater willingness to engage in countries where security can be challenging, including Libya and South Sudan.
The Kabul-Jalalabad road project underscores for China just how complicated Afghanistan can be.
...
Amrullah Saleh, a politician and former chief of the Afghan national intelligence agency, said he feared the road project was another example of "loose commitment by a Chinese company".
"When they have a contract they can trash it or they can respect it. But they should also be mindful that we are neighbors," Saleh said.
