FIROZKOH (Pajhwok): Residents of western Ghor province say the next president should appoint qualified individuals on government posts and disarm illegal armed groups and implement reconstruction projects in the province.The prolonged electoral process has pushed Afghanistan into economic, security and other problems.The people of Ghor asked the election bodies to complete the vote audit process at the earliest so that the new president could be inaugurated.
A provincial council member, Maulvi Ramazan Qasimi, asked the next president to give some government positions to Ghor residents so that they could work for the wellbeing of the province and share their problems with the central government.
He said no one from Ghor had been given a senior government post over the past 13 years.
“No one from Ghor was appointed as minister or even deputy minister or ambassador that is why no one paid attention to our problems,” Qasimi said.
Disarming irresponsible individuals was another demand Ghor residents made on the next president.
Mohammad Sarwar, a dweller of Tolak area, said illegal armed individuals had long been creating problems for locals and they should be disarmed and punished for their crimes.
Also a policeman, Sarwar said: “The next president should improve the capacity of security forces and increase their salaries and Taliban prisoners should not be released because they make a beeline to the battlefield and kill innocent people.”
Local officials say 6,500 illegal armed men and 3,500 militants have been operating in different parts of the province.
Ghor is a mountainous province and has impassable routes. Its residents asked the next president to build roads and transportation system.
Abdul Qadir Ghafoori, 28, a resident of Dolina district, said, “Lack of transport facilities adds to the economic woes of Ghor residents. Ghor remains buried in snow for six months a year, our only demand from our next president is to construct the Ghor-Kabul and Ghor-Herat highways.”
He said Ghor lacked electricity despite the fact three rivers --- Murghab, Harirod and Farah Rod --- passed through the province.
Farmers said they needed facilities to improve works. Abdul Samad, 40, a resident of Dolina district, said: “The government does not help us, we ask the next president to build water dams for us.”
A resident of Tiora district, Farida, said most girls in Ghor lacked access to education, particularly higher education. She asked the next leader to pay greater attention to solving problems facing women and provide them with education facilities.
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