42 water supply projects worth 160 million AFN have been completed and put into operation in 20 provinces of Afghanistan. The Deputy Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development said.

Afghan Voice Agency(AVA)_Monitoring, Speaking at a press conference, the minister, Sayed Ahmad Mustaqeem, said while giving a report back on the ministry’s achievements in the past year that numerous accomplishments have been made in this time.

“In the past year, with the financial assistance of UNICEF and the coordination of the Ministries of Education and Public Health, 42 healthy water supply projects have been completed in 20 provinces and handed over to schools and hospitals, providing 78,000 people with healthy drinking water,” said Mustaqeem.

“The work on 45 water supply projects worth 195 million AFN is under progress in 15 provinces, and it has also provided job opportunities for 1,000 people,” he added.

He said that in the past year, the Miyanko water dam in Kandahar city was built at a cost of 71 million AFN. He said this dam measures 210 meters in length and has a storage capacity of about one million cubic meters of water.

In addition, safe drinking water has been provided in 34 provinces of Afghanistan worth $69 million during this period, with the help of various organizations, he added.

He also stated that for the implementation of health projects, 44 memorandums of understanding have been signed with partner institutions for people to have access to safe drinking water.

In the past year, the ministry has transparently distributed aid to the needy families throughout the country, Mustaqeem said.

He also said that 100 irrigation canal projects worth 300 million AFN are being built in Dand and Daman districts of Kandahar, as well as in Farah, Badghis, Kunduz, Baghlan and Logar provinces.

Mustaqeem said efforts are being made to finish about 6,000 incomplete projects that were being funded by the World Bank.