ZABUL PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Col. Blake C. Ortner, commander of the Virginia Army National Guard’s 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and Combined Team Zabul, attended a cornerstone-laying ceremony for a hospital expansion project in Qalat, Oct. 4.
The expansion project, funded by Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul, includes the addition of 16 new rooms, and about 120 more beds.
“Getting the expansion of the hospital is really going to be important,” said Ortner. “They’ll be able to support more patients, and provide a greater level of care.”
Although funding for the project comes from International Security Assistance Forces, foreign involvement doesn’t go much further than that. The design for the new building came from the Ministry of Education. It was a pre-existing plan for a school project, but since the design fit the requirements for the hospital expansion, they were able to save time and money by using it for the hospital.
“A vast majority of the buildings that we construct are based on school designs developed by the MoE,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Jonathan Ball, from Garland, Texas, PRT Zabul’s senior engineer. “It probably saved about 2-3 weeks of design work, and at least $5,000 in design costs. Their designs have worked successfully many times in the past, and it allows us as ISAF to execute a project where only the funding and the project management and quality assurance are done by Americans. The engineering design and construction are 100 percent Afghans working for Afghans.”
Projects like the Qalat hospital expansion illustrate the progress Zabul province is making toward self-governance.
“The big thing about the leadership here,” said Ortner, “especially Gov. Naseri, is that he has a long-range plan for what he wants to see happen in Zabul. I think that’s important. He’s also got good budgeting skills. He’s very intelligent, and he knows what he’s doing. His deputy is a very energetic, forward-thinking individual as well. He’s a hard worker, and he’s really looking at taking care of his people. So together, I think they are setting a positive tone for Zabul.”
The success of projects like this does a lot to foster support for the local government, which can then take more of a leadership role as coalition forces step back into a more supportive role.
“There’s no doubt in the minds of a lot of people that ISAF and the coalition is providing a lot of the support,” said Ortner, “but the real thrust of what’s happening is that the GIRoA is deciding what they want done. We’re not telling them what they need to do. Really, just being there to show support – to show that we’re standing shoulder to shoulder with them in everything we’re doing, and that it is a team effort – I think that’s the significance of having ISAF personnel at these events.”
Gov. Naseri and Deputy Gov. Rasolyaar presided over the ceremony, which was attended by several officials from the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, as well as several ISAF officials and local citizens. Naseri addressed all those in attendance before inviting a number of the local leaders to help lay the cornerstone, a tradition officially marking the beginning of construction.
Project completion for the Qalat hospital expansion is scheduled for September 2012.
| Date Taken: |
10.04.2011 |
| Date Posted: |
10.08.2011 11:21 |
| Story ID: |
78233 |
| Location: |
ZABUL PROVINCE, AF |
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62 |
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