By Syrian Voice Staff
AMMAN: Roadwork in opposition-held areas of northern Syria began last week as part of a new project to improve vital roadways and access to the Turkish border.
The project is the largest of its kind in opposition-held Idlib, according to the province’s Service Management Authority, which is leading the project in coordination with the Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing Administration.
Abo Khalil, vice-president of the Service Management Authority, told the Syrian Voice that the project aims to “fill potholes caused by airstrikes and expand curves in the road,” and that costs for the repairs and subsequent road paving may reach $60,000.
Although many of Idlib’s roads were repaired and paved last summer, airstrikes have since resulted in new damages, according to representatives of the Idlib Municipality.
Among the most important routes addressed by the new project is the primary road that connects Idlib city with the northern Hama countryside, where intense clashes between opposition and pro-government forces are ongoing, and the Idlib-Marat Misrin highway, which runs from Idlib city to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey.
Access to the Bab al-Hawa crossing is particularly crucial for transporting injured and sickly persons out of the area and into Turkey for treatment, as was recently the case for many of those wounded in the April 4 chemical weapons attack on Khan Sheikhoun in southern Idlib.
Bab al-Hawa, the only official crossing between Turkey and opposition-held Idlib, is also the entry point for humanitarian aid convoys and construction materials like steel and cement.
The Service Management Authority has recently implemented a variety of other projects aimed at improving services in Idlib province, including repairs and reconstruction of schools, water well drilling, distribution of electrical generators and livestock vaccinations.
Translated by Avery Edelman. Original Arabic article found here.
