President Ashraf Ghani ordered officials on Saturday to immediately resolve air cargo issues and ensure that 120 tons of fresh fruit is transported to India every week.

Ghani issued the order stating that the fruit must be delivered to Delhi and Amritsar every week.

The president’s order comes after weeks of issues which resulted in the loss of tons of fresh fruit that rotted at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul following flight delays.

“The cargo route is in a trial phase and there have been some problems. But in the meeting that was held with the president, (it was decided) Kam Air will soon start regular flights for transferring cargo to India,” Dawa Khan Minapal, the president’s deputy spokesman said.

As per the president’s order, Kam Air will prepare a Boeing 737 within the next four days which will be used to transport fresh fruit to India.

“Our first flight to India will start on 17th of August and we will have two flights per week to India, one from Kabul, another from Kandahar,” Farid Paikar, Kam Air deputy head said.

Officials from the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) meanwhile said the president has ordered that standard cold storage facilities be built at Hamid Karzai International Airport in the near future.

Meanwhile, a number of farmers welcomed the move.

A farmer from Kandahar, Hazrat Gul, who trucks melons to Kabul markets, said he would make more money if he could sell to India.

“We will be happy if our fruit gets exported to other countries from Kandahar; this would be to our benefit,” he said.