Taliban insurgents forced a halt to work on Dehandara Dam in Pashtunkot district of northwestern Faryab province through threatening letters to engineers, local officials said Sunday.
But the Taliban said they would not allow construction work on the Dehandara Dam until losses local residents suffered were compensated.
Work on the Dehandara Dam was launched in 2017. It is the country’s fight biggest dam with 67 metres of height and the capacity to store 20 million cubic meters of water.
The hydro-power facility will cost $37 million afghanis from the government resources.
But only two or three percent work on the project has been completed since 2017 while over 100 security personnel tasked for security of the project have been killed and injured during this period.
But Faryab Governor Naqibullah Faeq said work on the Dehandara dam was kicked off after two and a half years of his advocacy and people’s demand.
He said the contract holding company started work on the dam by recruiting personnel and transfer of materials, but the Taliban issued statements and stopped work on the facility.
The Taliban claimed the people of Chahar Tot locality complained to them that they had not been compensated for the losses, therefore they stopped work on the facility.
Taliban Spokesperson Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said: “The residents approached us us and said their homes and lands are drowned in water due to the dam’s construction.”
He said work on the dam would remain halted until the government fully compensated the affected families.
But Governor Naqibullah said the damages of people had been included the project budget and the money was available in bank.
He said according to a letter from the Ministry of Irrigation, the local government and relevant institutions should assess people’s property and damage.
