Work continues on producing 500 MW electricity yearly: Afghan minister

Kabul, Aug 3 (IANS) Afghan caretaker government's Acting Minister for Energy and Water Mullah Abdul Latif Mansoor said Saturday that the work is in progress to produce 500 megawatts of electricity yearly to overcome power shortage in the war-ravaged country.

"Work to produce 500 megawatts of electricity is an essential step toward development, and the Islamic Emirate has been striving over the past three years to achieve it," Mansoor said at a government accountability programme to brief the nation on the administration's achievements.

Mansoor also said that Afghanistan had produced only 300 megawatts of power annually over the past 80 years, Xinhua news agency reported.

Afghans, including residents of the capital city of Kabul, have been suffering from power shortages in the summer, with people experiencing power outage for eight to 10 hours every day.

To overcome the power shortage, the administration has been working on solar panels, gas-generating power and building water dams to generate electricity and bolster the irrigation system in the country.

Afghanistan reportedly imports some 700 megawatts of power annually at a cost of 280 million U.S. dollars annually from the neighboring Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Turkmenistan.

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