Farah village gets electricity

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

02.22.2010

Courtesy Story

ISAF Joint Command

By U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Tracy DeMarco

KABUL, Afghanistan - After just four months and 10 days, the village of Kadanak in Farah province has electricity and is generating enough power to support more than 200 families.

The entire provincial council attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday along with several provincial line directors and Farah Province Governor Rahool Amin.

"Today, we are going to inaugurate the kind of project that will secure the future," said Governor Amin.

Kadanak is the second village in Farah province to successfully self-sustain electric power. The Farah Provincial Reconstruction Team initiated the electrification project with local contractor Abdul Ghani, whose 15-member team installed 100 street lights and 286 electric poles, constructed a generator building and installed a 160 kilowatt generator.

Power means so many things to the Afghan people explained Governor Amin. "When we have power, we can know what is going on in the world, we can learn, study, and get educated."

U.S. Navy Commander Lawrence Vasquez, PRT commander, said, "Every project that the PRT takes on is coordinated with and led by the provincial line directors and decided upon by them for the betterment of the people of Afghanistan."

Haji Ali Mohammad Wakili, the deputy of the Kadanak council, thanked the coalition forces for spending time away from their families and making sacrifices for Afghanistan.

"We should teach our children to never forget the coalition forces and the international support," he said.

Governor Amin started the generator and flipped a switch turning on the lights in the generator room at the conclusion of the ceremony.

Abdul Hamid Hamid, president of the Farah provincial council was thrilled to see so many government officials present.

"It is a good message to the enemy," he said, "that our government is unified and we are aligned with the foreigners."

• Date Taken: 02.22.2010
• Date Posted: 02.22.2010 11:51
• Story ID: 45690
• Location: KABUL, AF