Securing Afghanistan’s Future Accomplishments and the Way Forward Transport Sector Building Connections

Abstract

As a landlocked country, Afghanistan relies heavily on road and air transport. Both are in a very poor state as a result of long years of conflict and inadequate maintenance. The prolonged state of conflict in Afghanistan has resulted in large-scale deterioration of all infrastructure,especially the road infrastructure including damage to critical structures and bridges and the 2.8 km Salang tunnel that provides vital access to the northern part of the country. This period also witnessed serious depletion of the skilled manpower. Rehabilitation of the transport sector’s physical assets, improved asset management, and increased institutional capacity hold the key to economic development, national integration, and security. The task is formidable given that only about 13% of Afghanistan’s 21,000-kilometer (km) road network is paved. Neither these nor the 18,000 km of unpaved (gravel or earth) roads have been maintained over the past 2 decades. Travel time and cost have increased substantially and, combined with the security situation, have reduced movement of goods and people. Afghanistan has only a tiny railway segment, but plans to give it a role in the future in dispatching and receiving bulk shipments from neighboring countries. To keep up with increasing traffic volume, to improve movement of goods and services thereby fostering trade and commerce, and to promote trade links with neighbouring countries, it is essential that the entire primary road network be rehabilitated on a priority basis. The findings of the Comprehensive Needs Assessment for the transport sector support this conclusion. The road rehabilitation efforts should not only respond to the current requirements of domestic trade but also start taking advantage of the possibilities of expansion of regional trade. The Islamic Transitional Government of Afghanistan (ITGA) has declared that reconstruction and rehabilitation of the road system, especially of national roads, is the country’s top priority in reconstruction. To move all types of vehicles safely and at reasonable cost, creation of an efficient road transport and traffic system is also a high priority. Likewise, rehabilitation and improvement of the air transport system will facilitate access to remote areas and the movement of people and of low-volume, high-value merchandise.