Azerbaijan planning to complete designing of several highways by year-end
Sabina Mammadli
Read moreAzerbaijan is planning to complete the design of the Fuzuli-Hadrut, Barda-Agdam, and Shukurbayli-Jabrayil-Hadrut highways by the end of the year, President's Special Representative in the liberated territories (except Shusha district) Emin Huseynov said.
He made the remarks at a meeting of the working group on transport, communications, and High Technologies of the Interdepartmental Center operating at the Coordination Headquarters.
The official pointed out the great progress made on the Ahmadbayli-Shusha and Horadiz-Agband roads and railways.
He also emphasized that active work on the construction of eight main roads and two railways is ongoing in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh, with the largest projects being the Barda-Aghdam, the Talish-Tapgaragoyunlu-Dashalti, the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha highways, and others.
Further, Huseynov stressed that the construction of the first mobile base will be completed in Tartar's Talish village this month.
"In Aghdam, work on the construction of roads and IT infrastructure is carried out according to the principle of a single concept. The design of the upcoming work to be carried out in Agdam is already being completed and we plan to announce relevant tenders in the near future," Huseynov added.
During the same meeting, Azerbaijan's Deputy Digital Development and Transportation Minister Rahman Hummatov stated that the construction of a runway and a terminal at Azerbaijan's Lachin Airport has been completed by 37 percent.
Noting the importance of infrastructure projects in the relocation of former IDPs, Hummatov added that two airports and the Ahmadbayli-Shusha road have already been constructed and commissioned.
He also added that work is underway on the construction of 18 highways, a number of which are expected to be put into operation this year. He also underlined that the design of the 130-meter TV tower is being completed, and its construction is expected to begin after approval.
“In addition, we are working on the creation of telecommunications infrastructure. We have already launched 11 TV channels and 7 radio stations. 203 mobile stations have already been installed in Karabakh, 77 subscribers are connected to broadband internet, and 86 households are connected to the internet in the village of Aghali," he added.
Additionally, speaking at the event, a head of a department of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), Idris Ismayilov, informed that up to this day, over 68,900 hectares of Azerbaijan’s liberated territories have been cleared of mines.
He added that the country expects to clear over 820,000 hectares of land from mines and unexploded ordnances.
"In total, over 82,700 unexploded ordnances and mines were found, while 8.1 percent of the territories cleared of mines or 5,600 hectares fall on the territories where transport and IT infrastructure is being built. 1,070 hectares of cleared areas lie along the railways that are being built in Karabakh. The Barda-Aghdam and Fuzuli-Zangilan-Aghdam railway sections are completely cleared of mines,” Ismayilov emphasized.
Currently, work is underway to restore Azerbaijan's liberated lands. Azerbaijan will rebuild its recently liberated areas in four stages. The initial stage includes the solution to the issues of governance and security, and infrastructure, while the subsequent stages include the solution to the issues of social services activities, reconstruction, and development of the economy.
In 2021, Azerbaijan allocated $1.5 billion for the reconstruction of liberated territories, followed by AZN 2.2 billion ($1.2 billion) in 2022. These funds will be used primarily to restore infrastructure (electricity, gas, water, communications, roads, education, health, and so on) as well as cultural and historical monuments.
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Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SabinaMmdl
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