Press Release

Road Will Link Sheik Mesri New Township with Jalalabad Bypass Road

Government members attend the groundbreaking of a European Community-funded bypass road.

Sheik Mesri New Township, Nangarhar, Afghanistan  | Monday, May 05, 2008

Local and provincial government members participated in a groundbreaking on May 5th for an 8km gravel access road which will intersect with the European Community-funded Jalalabad Bypass road. The road will link Sheik Mesri New Township with Jalalabad and the broader Nangarhar community.

The road rehabilitation will be implemented by USAID in consultation with local shura and community elders, with an anticipated completion date of December 2008.  Once completed, this road will provide  access to jobs and markets and will increase access to health and education facilities.

Sheik Mesri New Township is one of five pilot sites authorized under the land allocation scheme of the Afghan Government. In 2005, President Karzai issued decree Number 104 on Land Distribution for Housing to Eligible Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). This decree legalized distribution of intact and uncultivated government land to landless refugee and IDP returnees as directed by the Land Allocation Committee established by the Provincial Government.

Over 45,000 applications for land have been submitted to the Department of Refugees and Repatriation in Nangarhar, primarily from refugees returned from Pakistan after 20 years in exile. An estimated 1,000 vulnerable families have already moved to Sheik Mesri New Township, which can accommodate up to 10,000 family plots of land for 50,000 beneficiaries.

To address the reintegration needs of the returnee community, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, in conjunction with the Provincial Government, NGOs, and the international community, is constructing shelter, water, and roads.  The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has constructed fifty wells and provided shelter assistance.