KABUL: Billions of dollars spent building up Afghani­stan’s road infrastructure over more than a decade risk going to waste because of poor maintenance, a US Congres­sional oversight body said on Sunday.

The Special Inspector Gen­e­ral for Afghanistan Recons­tr­uction said US agencies had spent $2.8 billion since 2002 building roads in Afghani­stan but wear and tear as well as the Taliban insurgency had damaged the system badly.

“USAID and (the Depar­tment of Defense) spent billions of dollars on road construction in Afghan­istan, but have had only limited success in ensuring the long-term sustainability of those roads,” the report said.

Improving transport links will be vital if Afghanistan is to develop an economy strong enough to stand on its own once international donors, who earlier this year pledged some $15 billion in aid to 2020, leave.

But the dire state of the highways, exposed to a harsh climate and regularly bloc­ked and mined by insurgents, is regularly highlighted by horrific road accidents which occur periodically.

SIGAR’s report said a recent survey it conducted had shown that 54 per cent of the country’s road infrastructure needed rehabilitation beyond simple repairs, with maintenance efforts hindered by poor security, lack of capacity and corruption.

The official was quoted as saying that 20 per cent of Afg­h­a­nistan’s roads were destro­y­ed and 80 per cent con­­tinued to deteriorate. Other officials said proper maintenance of the system would require $100m a year.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2016