Afghan staffer lauds Sino-funded work

KABUL — Accompanying Chinese colleagues at the construction site of a China-funded housing complex in Kabul, Afghanistan, Noor Aziz is now a well-rounded resource — interpreting at the construction site, communicating with local authorities and solving material supply challenges for the construction team.

The 38-year-old officially joined the Afghan project team of the China 19th Metallurgical Group Corp Ltd in 2017, when the company was building the comprehensive teaching building and auditorium of Kabul University. Before that, he was a laborer earning wages per diem.

Aziz had to learn the Chinese language from scratch. He said he would learn Chinese by himself after his daily work and ask Chinese staff for guidance when they had time.

"Fortunately, I learned some Chinese and the company's officials wanted me to work with them as a translator," Aziz said.

As a significant State-owned Chinese company, MCC19 has been engaged in Afghanistan's rebuilding over the past few years.

Describing his Chinese colleagues as friends, Aziz said that the friendly environment has encouraged him to work with the company, adding that he believes all Afghan employees and workers are happy with MCC19 managers and staff.

"We treat everyone equally and consider them our friends and family," said Cao Bingsen, a procurement manager of MCC19's Afghanistan project team.

He said that when the Afghan employees encounter difficulties, the management team visits their homes, asks about their situation and tries to support them.

"MCC19 has been assisting Afghanistan for more than 10 years, with 20 local employees accompanying us to make progress together," Cao said, noting that the project team recruits 100 to 200 local laborers at the construction sites, which also helps local employment.

"My economic condition was not very good before joining the company," Aziz said, adding that he is now paid a good salary. "The company is very reliable, and its work is professional and experienced," Aziz said, adding that the company always uses high-quality building materials transported from China and has high construction standards.

Xinhua