Sector: Community Development
Region: South Asia
Funded by:
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
Total Value: C$ 410,000
Partners and Counterparts:
Appleton Consulting International (ACI), Road and Roof Construction Company (RRCC)
Afghanistan, Feasibility Study for Weish Border Facility: November 2008–March 2009
Project Description
The Weish border crossing, on the main highway between Quetta and Kandahar City, is the second largest border crossing in Afghanistan after the Torkham border crossing at the western end of the Khyber Pass in eastern Afghanistan. There is little regulation of goods crossing the border and no regulation of individuals and livestock traffic. The present border crossing consists of a series of separate and minimally planned border posts manned by the Afghan National Border Police (ANBP) and the Department of Customs (DoC). This provides for a highly inefficient and time consuming process which contributes to extensive smuggling around these border facilities by transport services. Because of these concerns, the DoC determined the need to improve the border crossing at Weish in order to better regulate the flow of goods and people into and out of Kandahar Province and enhance customs revenue. Agriteam was then contracted through the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade’s START Program to design and determine the overall feasibility of building an improved border facility at Weish for both DoC and ANBP personnel, who play both a policing and an immigration role at the border.
Key project activities included:
1. Community Dialogue and Assessment:
- Public outreach and dialogue with local leaders and community members about development of a border facility.
- Assessment of the community and tribal structure, as well as economic issues, flow of goods and people through the border crossing, land usage, ownership and tenancy, and resettlement issues at the project site.
2. Development of a Security Plan:
- Assessment of the security risks and development of a security plan for project for pre-construction, construction and operational phases, including identification of mines and unexploded ordinances (UXO) at the proposed site.
3. Complete Engineering Design – Facilities, Civil Works and Roads:
- Facilities engineering: The design plan for the Shir Khan Bandar facility on the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border was reviewed and modified to meet the needs of the Afghan authorities and the community. The facility design included a base footprint for the facility; traffic flow/capacity analysis including current traffic volumes, peak traffic volumes and patterns, and potential changes in traffic volume/patterns once the facility is complete; personnel housing requirements; staffing requirements including availability of local staff and/or the need to build barracks for non-local staff; power requirements based on the types of assets at the facility including gas generator and solar based options; a pedestrian control plan; and land availability for inbound and outbound parking and inspection yards, warehouses, immigrations and customs houses, barracks for Customs Officers, Customs/Borders Police, proper defensive position etc.
- Civil works engineering: The site was assessed for land and site development including hydrological analysis, environmental assessment, drainage assessments and soil conditions.
- Road engineering: The combined team of engineers and security personnel assessed routes into the site and identified needs for upgrading and expanding the existing road.
Agriteam’s approach was to identify and support Afghan subcontractors to complete field work at the Weish site as the security environment was unsafe for Canadian and international specialists. The Project Manager and Lead Engineer then provided technical support and managed the Afghan field team through daily correspondence, as well as regular coordination meetings with key staff in Kabul and Kandahar City, to ensure that activities were undertaken to meet project goals.
Project Director
Robin D’Arcy
rdarcy@agriteam.ca