FARAH, Afghanistan, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Construction of a major water reservoir dam, the Bakhsh Abad Dam, has begun in Afghanistan's western Farah province.
To be completed in five phases, the dam can irrigate more than 100,000 hectares of land, besides producing electricity for the people of Farah province, officials said at a ceremony to start the work on Saturday.
"From the beginning, I was interested in the construction of the Bakhsh Abad dam, but the facilities to start the work were not available. We started the work today, and we are trying to finish the project as soon as possible," Deputy Prime Minister on Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar said in his speech after the ceremony.
At a cost of 430 million U.S. dollars, the project is expected to create job opportunities for thousands of people.
"Our government gives priority to important uplift projects, and one of them is the construction of Bakhsh Abad dam and its canals," acting Minister for Energy and Water Abdul Latif Mansour said at the ceremony.
Last year, Baradar inaugurated the construction of a 285 km-long water canal in the Qush Tepa area of the northern Balkh province to irrigate 550,000 hectares of land in Balkh and the neighboring Jawzjan and Faryab provinces. ■