Villagers wait for the governor of Afghanistan's Konar province to arrive for the official opening of a paved road in the province's Deywagal Valley, Feb. 5. The seven-mile road was completed after two years of work, offering Afghans better access to hospitals, schools and markets.

Even a short road goes a long way in Afghanistan.

The opening of a seven-mile road in eastern Afghanistan’s Konar province is affording critical transportation for residents and allowing coalition forces to transfer some security operations to the Afghanistan government.

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force announced the opening of the $3.9 million road in Deywagal Valley and the closing of its Combat Outpost Seray, which provided security to the construction crew, in Feb. 5, ceremonies in the province.

The new road –- more than two years in the making — is the latest project for the Konar Provincial Reconstruction Team and the 1st Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team. The 3rd BCT’s 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion, oversaw completion of the road and is handing over security of the area to the Afghan government; the team’s 4th Cavalry Regiment continues to provide security in other parts of Konar province.

“This was a huge success,” said Army Maj. Kendall Clarke, executive officer for the 26th Infantry Regiment’s 1st Battalion. “We can hand over the road to the Afghan government and they will have to continue with security in that area, allowing us to focus on other areas.”

The construction company that built the road will take over the outpost as it continues work to connect the road to the Korengal Valley, Clarke said. “Then, what was once a six-hour drive will only take 30 minutes,” he added.

Navy Cmdr. Murray Tynch, Konar PRT commander, said the road will allow residents to get basic medical care, will decrease the risk of roadside bombs and will improve trade in and out of the rural areas.

The idea of improving the road began when members of the 10th Mountain Division’s 32nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion, were in the area in 2006 and spoke with elders about what they wanted and needed. The road and the outpost were the result.

“We saw that it was an isolated valley and seemed to be very poor,” Army Command Sgt. Maj. James Carabello of the 32nd Infantry Regiment’s 1st Battalion, said. “The elders said they wanted two things: a new road and security by coalition forces during the construction. That valley has a great deal of potential and we came through on our promise.”

The opening of the road is important because it will allow the Afghan people the ability to take a larger role in their future and allow them better access to markets and commerce, the sergeant major added.

“Through the road, we are providing the people access to the government,” Carabello said. “This is a great success for the people of Afghanistan. It will also allow them to get to markets easier.”

DVIDS
Story by David Hopkins

Polio is preventable. It is holding out in the Third World, due to lack of resources and poor education. Mistrust of the West, by Islamic radicals or others, adds to the problem. Afghanistan is addressing the issue in one of its neediest areas.

Konar’s Provincial governor, Sayeed Wahidi, administers the oral polio vaccine to a young Afghan girl

The government of Konar province, with the help of the Konar Provincial Reconstruction Team, began an extensive vaccination drive targeting polio, Jan. 11.

Although polio vaccinations are common and have been very successful throughout established nations, Konar’s developing health services, road quality and regional conflicts have all created an environment that makes it challenging to administer the vaccine.

“The [Konar] PRT has used over $71 million from the Commanders Emergency Response Program to build and enhance roads and bridges, which is one of the first means to getting better quality health care to the people of Afghanistan,” said Capt. George Hupp, Konar PRT Civil Affairs and Tucson, Ariz., native.

The oral polio vaccine was provided by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health.

“These vaccinations will prohibit the people from several diseases that can be life threatening. Not only have we worked on this with roads, but we have also contributed money to attaining medical ambulances for servicing the people on a more routine basis,” Hupp said.

Several ambulances were provided by groups including Aide Medicale Internationale and PRT Konar, an integral part of Konar Provisional Gov. Sayeed Wahidi’s plan for distribution.

Wahidi understands that ambulances of the local government are limited by the primitive road infrastructure. Modern health care professionals are also difficult to train and educate in this area. These factors have slowed the implementation of vaccination programs until now.

Wahidi and his volunteers are aiming to distribute the vaccine to the most secluded areas in the province with plans to contract pack animals to reach remote areas.

“Where we cannot go we will take animals and walk.” Wahidi said.

During the vaccination kickoff, several individuals gave speeches about the importance of this year’s vaccination to a crowd of 104 local volunteers.

“The vaccine should reach over 130,000 children across the province,” said Dr. Sayed Ameem Fatimi, Konar’s Public Health minister.

Local officials are hoping this will be enough to vaccinate every child under the age of five across the region in two months.

Wahidi administered the first polio vaccine of the campaign to a young Afghan girl at the end of the ceremony.

The government of Konar is looking to the future and Fatimi shares in Wahidi’s vision, “This will only be the beginning, as I plan to get children and adults more vaccinations for more diseases such as hepatitis and tuberculosis.”

DVIDS
By Lt. j.g. James Dietle
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division

The Konar River runs for 150 km and serves as a natural border between eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. Although the villages along the eastern and western banks of the river are part of Konar, the river reinforces cultural and political alliances between Afghans on the eastern shore and tribesmen across the border in Pakistan. The people on the east have had very little connection to the provincial government.

To resolve this problem, the Konar Provincial Reconstruction Team has embarked on a bridge-building strategy to connect the Afghan government to the five provincial districts on the east of the Konar River. Until recently Afghans in Khas Konar, Sarkani, Naray, Marawara and Dangam Districts looked to Pakistan for cultural affiliation, services and trade.

Currently the two bridges connecting the eastern side of the river with the west are in Nawabad and Asmar. These bridges are the only means of vehicle access to the provincial center. The five new bridges under construction by the PRT are the Guryak, Khas Konar, Marawara, Bar Sholtan and Saw Bridge. The new bridges will accommodate two-way commercial truck traffic and will connect residents from the isolated areas along Pakistan’s border with the rest of Konar.

Navy Lt. Matthew Myers, Konar PRT Engineer, said that all construction work is being performed by local Afghan companies.

“These projects demonstrate that Afghan engineers are capable of building large scale and technically-challenging projects,” Myers said.

Myers also reported that residents on both sides of the river enthusiastically support the bridges.

“Due to the popularity of the bridges there have been no attacks on the projects,” Myers said. “Each bridge has an estimated lifetime of 60 years so the benefits will last for generations of Afghans.”

“The bridges will further legitimize the Afghan Government to the people in these areas, showing that the Afghan government is capable of bringing large-scale infrastructure projects to an area neglected by 30 years of war,” said Navy Cmdr. Daniel Dwyer, Konar PRT commander.

Construction is on time and on budget. The five bridges will be completed between October 2008 and March 2009. Gov. Sayeed Wahidi, Konar’s provincial governor, sees the five bridges as transformational, he said.

“These bridges will give [the Afghan National Security Forces] access to the most problematic areas of Konar,” Sayeed said. “They will disrupt the insurgency along the border districts and will connect the Afghan citizens to markets, health care and the provincial government.”

CJTF-101
Written by Navy Lt. Neil Myers, Konar Provincial Reconstruction Team