The Lijeh dam in Gurbaz district of Khost province, which was inaugurated just four days ago in the presence of Abdul Latif Mansour, the Taliban’s Minister of Energy and Water, collapsed on Tuesday, due to heavy rain and flooding.
The dam was officially inaugurated on Friday, during a ceremony. Mansour announced at the ceremony that 20 million Afghanis had been spent on the construction of the facility.
After the dam was destroyed, social media users have expressed doubts about the quality of the development projects implemented by the Taliban by posting videos of the moment it collapsed.
Many critics have said that these projects are being implemented without technical supervision and necessary assessments.
Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security, also reacted to the incident by writing on his social media page: “Projects that are not built based on scientific and professional standards and are based more on slogans, hypocrisy, and prayers are doomed to collapse.”
He continued: “Undoubtedly, the Istibadad Dam, like the Lijeh Dam, will collapse with the first rain of public awareness.”
Last week, the Taliban announced the inauguration of several development projects in Khost Province, including the construction of another dam worth 55 million Afghanis.
However, the collapse of the Lijeh Dam just a few days after its inauguration has drawn attention to the manner in which these projects were implemented and the level of transparency and expertise in their management.
