Kabul, June 3 : An official from the Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) said that a French company is yet to deliver airport radar systems meant to be installed in various parts of the war-torn nation.
Ghulam Jilani Wafa, a Deputy from the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (MoTCA), said that talks are underway with the French company, Thales, to import the radar systems, reports TOLO News.
“We are negotiating with the company hat will send nine more radar systems, based on the terms of the contract,” he said.
According to Jilani, the French company has delivered only three of the 12 radar systems to Afghanistan so far.
According to the MoTCA, the radar system at the Kabul Airport is the only one which is currently active.
The systems at the Bagram and Kandahar airports remain inactive due to technical issues.
Meanwhile, economists have said that the installation of a radar system plays an important role in increasing revenue of the country through aviation, reports TOLO News.
“The important issue is that this helps to collect revenue from transit flights, and Afghanistan earns $65 million a year from transit flights,” Tolo News quoted economist Darya Khan Bahir as saying.
Imam Mohammad Varimach, a former Deputy Minister of Transport and Aviation, said that standard radar plays an important role in increasing the number of domestic and transit flights.
“The lack of proper operation of radar will cause problems for air traffic, especially for the security of air traffic.”(IANS)