KABUL - The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MOMP) extended the extraction contracts of nine marble mines in Herat province on Monday.
The contracts were previously signed with the private Afghan companies; however, the extractions paused since the beginning of the National Unity Government (NUG) tenure.
The value of this project is considered 23 million dollars.
“We try to sign more contracts of the mines’ extraction in this year; we will witness more achievements in terms of mines. Soon we will sign another five contracts of marble and talcum mines,” said Nargis Nihan, Acting Minister of MOMP.
Meanwhile, the officials in the Marble Extraction and Process Council in the south region say that they have invested dozens of million dollars in marble extraction and process.
They add that they were facing many challenges due to the lack of raw materials in the last five years but their problems will be solved after the contracts are signed.
“The new contracts are very important to us. We can broaden our activities through the extraction of marble mines. We are grateful to the government,” said Wahidullah, a member of the Marble Extraction and Process Council.
“The government should help us in terms of extraction so we do not lose our foreigner customers,” said Ghulam Mohammad Eisa, a member of the Marble Extraction and Process Council.
This comes as the economic experts believe that the government should encourage and help the private sector in extraction and process of the mines if it wants to pass the economic catastrophe. (ATN)