New Zealand Defence Force
Te Ope Kaatua O Aotearoa

Media Release
26 August 2005

Check it Out - Army Engineers Construct Checkpoint in Afghanistan

After only a month in Afghanistan members of the New Zealand Defence Force
Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) are rolling up their sleeves and
getting down to business.

Army Engineers have just finished constructing a permanent checkpoint for
the Afghan National Police (ANP), about thirty kilometres north east of
the Kiwi's base at Bamiyan.

The building with barrier arms will allow the ANP to stop and search
vehicles at a road junction linking the north of Bamiyan with Kabul.

The checkpoint will play an important role in significantly reducing the
illicit movement of weapons and drugs. It will also increase the presence
of the Afghan authorities in the local area.

Army Carpenter, Staff Sergeant Nigel Snalam, supervised the construction,
assisted by Corporal John "Dobbie' Dobson and four local Afghan workers,
permanently employed by the New Zealanders.

At the foot of a narrow gorge, construction presented a number of
challengers.

"The foundations were particularly hard to dig because of the rocky
ground. They had to be dug by hand, which took all of the first day,"
said Staff Sergeant Snalam.

The second day saw the actual construction itself, with the building fully
completed and painted.

122 New Zealand Defence Force personnel are currently in Afghanistan as
part of the PRT. Originally deployed in September 2003, the PRT has been
extended through until September 2006.

ENDS

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