Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan sign agreement on power

KABUL: Kabul, Ashgabat, and Islamabad have agreed on a project to transmit power from Turkmenistan to energy-starving Pakistan through Afghanistan, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat has said.

Breshna’s advisor Mujtaba Hoshmand speaking about a project touted as TAP for the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan power transmission line. The first of the project – spanning Turkmenistan to Herat and Farah provinces of Afghanistan – will be amplifying the country’s energy reserves.

Afghanistan’s electric company officials in a press conference in Kabul have said Afghanistan will be cashing in a whopping $50 million in the second phase for hosting the Turkmenistan-Pakistan transmission line.

Another advisor to the company, Mostafa Aria, reckoned corruption as the main hurdle to the implementation of big projects. He has said a considerable amount of funding has been withdrawn and projects hanging in the balance because of corruption.