ID :
205411
Tue, 09/06/2011 - 05:58
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/205411
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea's reconstruction projects in Afghanistan face delays: lawmaker
SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's reconstruction projects in war-torn Afghanistan are facing major delays due to worsening security conditions there, a lawmaker said Tuesday, urging the government to ensure the safety of its dispatched workers and troops.
South Korea has stationed about 90 aid workers and police officers, along with some 340 troops to protect them, at a base in Charikar, a city in the northern Afghan province of Parwan. The Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) has been helping to rebuild the strife-torn nation since July last year.
Although no casualties or property damage have been reported so far, the base has come under attack 13 times this year, and South Korean officials have yet to determine the exact cause of the attacks or the forces behind them.
The vulnerable situation has left nine out of the PRT's 12 projects behind schedule, Rep. Park Joo-sun of the main opposition Democratic Party said, citing data from the foreign ministry and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), a state-run foreign aid agency.
Four of the projects, including the construction of a school and a public health center in Parwan, have not even started using their allocated budgets, the lawmaker said. Other programs, such as providing job training and building a soy milk factory in Parwan, have only used up to 20 percent of their budgets, he said.
The difficulties are likely to grow after the scheduled withdrawal of U.S.-led combat troops by 2014, according to Park.
"It will become even more difficult to guarantee the safety of our PRT workers," he said. "The government should properly determine local conditions there and review our PRT's reconstruction projects and dispatch of troops."
South Korea has stationed about 90 aid workers and police officers, along with some 340 troops to protect them, at a base in Charikar, a city in the northern Afghan province of Parwan. The Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) has been helping to rebuild the strife-torn nation since July last year.
Although no casualties or property damage have been reported so far, the base has come under attack 13 times this year, and South Korean officials have yet to determine the exact cause of the attacks or the forces behind them.
The vulnerable situation has left nine out of the PRT's 12 projects behind schedule, Rep. Park Joo-sun of the main opposition Democratic Party said, citing data from the foreign ministry and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), a state-run foreign aid agency.
Four of the projects, including the construction of a school and a public health center in Parwan, have not even started using their allocated budgets, the lawmaker said. Other programs, such as providing job training and building a soy milk factory in Parwan, have only used up to 20 percent of their budgets, he said.
The difficulties are likely to grow after the scheduled withdrawal of U.S.-led combat troops by 2014, according to Park.
"It will become even more difficult to guarantee the safety of our PRT workers," he said. "The government should properly determine local conditions there and review our PRT's reconstruction projects and dispatch of troops."
