320 uplift plans on the anvil for four northern provinces

Kabul, June 24, 2007 (Pajhwok Afghan News): As many as 320 uplift projects will be executed in northeastern provinces of Kunduz, Badakhshan, Takhar and Baghlan under a five-year development plan as part of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS).

Each of the four provinces would have 80 projects in line with the plan, whose overall cost works out at more than $10.5 billion, including assistance from the international community pledged at the London Conference in 2005. The implementation process will be set in motion next year.

Muhammad Yousaf Ghaznavi, provincial coordinator of ANDS, told Pajhwok Afghan News on Sunday consultations on the strategy had been launched in Kunduz, Baghlan, Takhar and Badakhshan.

Currently heading a delegation comprising officials from 14 ministries to Kunduz, Ghaznavi revealed the consultation process would be completed in a week. A reported based on the deliberations will be submitted to the government for further action.

In Kabul, a new seven-storey building of the Science Academy was inaugurated at the Bobo Jan Palace - located behind the Interior Ministry. Academy Director Abdul Bari Rashid said the building would be completed in two years at an estimated cost of $1.4 million.

Also on Sunday, Public Health Minister Dr. Syed Muhammad Amin Fatemi inaugurated a 150-bed hospital for children in the western Herat City. The $0.7 million hospital has been built by the Italian Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT).

Children under the age of 14 years would be treated at the hospital in Shedayee area, said Fatemi, who thanked the PRT for its contribution to Afghanistans health sector.

The hospital has several departments including health education, vaccination, dermatology, an intensive care unit (ICU), a blood bank, laboratories and an operation theatre.