2012

Photo: Ayub Farhat/IRIN

A market in Nangarhar province where electricity is rare

JALALABAD, 20 December 2012 (IRIN) – A lack of regular electricity in Nangahar Province in eastern Afghanistan is undermining reconstruction efforts and pushing families back into poverty, say business leaders in the provincial capital, Jalalabad.

The city stands on a vital trade route with neighbouring Pakistan and until a few years ago had factories and workshops producing soap, plastic household goods, marble stones, salt, cloth, pots and a variety of other goods.

A recent survey by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Afghan Chamber of Commerce revealed 30 factories and workshops in the city have closed in the past few years because of a lack of power.

“There were 115 factories in 2011 but today there are 85 and if there is no electricity it could be reduced more,” Mohammed Qasam Yusufy, the local representative of the Afghan Chamber of Commerce, told IRIN.

“About 600 people have been left jobless by factories shutting down only this year,” he added citing electricity problems as the major cause.

Almost half the country’s external trade passes through the province, according to the Chamber of Commerce – including 70 percent of NATO supplies.

But provincial government officials say insecurity has delayed a planned power connection to Kabul’s Naghlo hydroelectric plant, which was due to provide 32 megawatts (MW) to the city, six of which to the Shikh Misry Industrial Park.

The proposed link has been undermined by insecurity in Uzbin District, Kabul Province, according to Muheburahman Mohmand, the provincial representative of Da Afghanistan Breshna Shirakat (DABS), the national power company.

“Only a few days ago, the enemy of our people destroyed an electricity pylon in Spir Kondy area of Uzbin District. We have shared our worries with the Afghan ministries of interior and defence but never received any positive answer,” he said.

“All the work is done, only a 1,000-metre-long power line has to be connected to the water dam to have power here in this province.”

The UN has identified energy as a major cross-cutting issue: “Energy is the golden thread that connects economic growth, increased social equity, and an environment that allows the world to thrive. Development is not possible without energy, and sustainable development is not possible without sustainable energy,” says the UN 2011 Sustainable Energy for All initiative.

Sardar Khan owns a factory in Jalalabad making plastic pipes, which cost him US$200,000 to set up. He employed 50 people but after two years of operation he has been forced to close: “The biggest challenge is power.” Using diesel generators makes his pipes far too expensive.

The lack of power has stalled an industrial sector with the potential to lift thousands of Afghans out of poverty. Shikh Misry Industrial Park was part of Jalalabad’s vision to launch its economy, but since being set up in 2006 it has yet to welcome a functioning factory.

Corruption

Jalalabad currently gets all its electricity from the Nangarhar 14 MW hydroelectric dam built by Russian and Afghan engineers in 1965. But civil wars and conflict have affected the maintenance of the facility, leaving only two of the three turbines to some extent operational.

If they were bringing this power on a donkey it would have arrived here Ali Ahmad, security guard

The electricity is used to provide power to government offices and 4,000 houses, but can only supply a limited number of factories.

“It has been three years officials say power from Naghlo is coming. If they were bringing this power on a donkey it would have arrived here,” said Ali Ahmad, a resident of Majbor Abad village, who works as a security guard.

Last year he got his electricity from a fuel-powered generator which was used for 10 hours a day to power two fans and two light-bulbs. It cost US$40 a month – nearly half his salary.

“I do not know whether I pay for food, clothes and other household goods or pay for power. People who know officials or bribe officials have 24-hour power in their houses while my children got sick because of extreme heat.”

An official responsible for power distribution in Nangarhar Province said in one case power supplied to a government office was being delivered to 60 other buildings illegally. He estimated around 30 percent of electricity is lost in this way.

Meanwhile, off-grid solutions may help families in remote parts of the province that would have to wait decades for any possibility of a connection to the national grid. Eleven micro-hydro plants with a combined capacity of 125 kilowatts are being built in the province by the Energy for Rural Development in Afghanistan project at the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation. It is hoped they will provide a power supply to 1,845 families at a cost of around US$600,000.

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:13 GMT, REUTERS, By Martin Petty

KABUL, Dec 18 (Reuters) – Afghan father-of-four Mohammad Nasir has a secret he’s been keeping from his family.

The aid worker pulls a television bench out from the living-room wall of his Kabul home. Behind it is a carved out shelf, hiding what he hopes will keep loved ones safe when Western troops withdraw by the end of 2014 — an AK-47 assault rifle.

Arms purchases are soaring in Afghanistan, along with the price of weapons, a sign that many Afghans fear a return of the Taliban, civil war or rising lawlessness.

An assault rifle cost $400 a year ago. Today, some arms dealers are selling them for triple the price.

And it’s not just ordinary Afghans who are buying. Warlords who control militias, and former anti-Soviet mujahideen fighters are also boosting the trade.

“Whenever you turn on the TV or radio, the discussion is 2014. I’m not feeling safe now, it’s become like doomsday for Afghans,” said Nasir, 48, storing the polished second-hand rifle and slamming the TV unit back against the wall.

“People are saying security will collapse, or soldiers will join warlords or the Taliban, so we need something to protect our families when there’s a crisis.”

The brisk arms business is complicating the government’s efforts to pacify a country where the Taliban can strike virtually anywhere, ethnic tensions can easily ignite violence, and warlords are constantly jockeying for influence.

Afghanistan wants to project an image of stability ahead of 2014, a critical year when presidential elections will be held and the 350,000 Afghan security force will take over security.

Any upheaval could also encourage regional powers like Iran and Pakistan to try and gain influence before the Afghan endgame, a widespread fear among officials and ordinary Afghans.

President Hamid Karzai calls the talk of chaos, Western media “propaganda”, and says Afghan security forces have made great progress.

But for many Afghans, the threat of a descent into chaos is real so a growing number are investing in weapons, despite exorbitant costs. The average Afghan family earns only about $200 a month.

FEAR OF 2014 BATTLEFIELDS

Reuters spoke to buyers and sellers of illegal arms in five provinces and each cited the foreign troop withdrawal as the main driver of the underground trade.

“More people are buying weapons now, some to protect themselves from kidnappers and robbers and others in anticipation of things getting worse,” said a Kabul resident in his fruit shop, where a verse from the Koran on the wall calls for God to guide Muslims on a straight path.

He bought a handgun illegally for $500, a model his dealer says now fetches $1,000.

“If the situation changes in 2014 this area will once again become a battlefield between former warlords who are still powerful,” he said.

The government has highlighted 2014 as a year to invest in Afghanistan, which has relied on foreign aid for its economic lifeline, and take advantage of its cheap labour and land leases. Last month it held a televised conference promoting the country’s natural resources and its industrial potential.

In the 10 years following 2014, the government hopes revenues from oil, natural gas, iron, copper and other mining ventures will generate $4 billion in annual revenue.

But in the north, which is home to untapped oil and gas resources, warlords and their supporters are now re-arming for fear militants may seize power again, say residents.

Afghanistan’s largest foreign investment project, the Aynak copper deposit in Logar province, lies in one of the country’s most dangerous regions just south of the capital, Kabul.

Rocket attacks this year saw its Chinese workers temporarily flee the project, which is run by China Metallurgical Group (MCC) and Jiangxi Copper.

AK-47: A LEGACY OF WAR

Afghanistan has seen little peace in three decades. The American-backed mujahideen drove out the Russians in 1989 after 10 years of occupation, but American interest faded quickly.

Much of Kabul was later destroyed in a civil war and more than 50,000 civilians killed. The Taliban rose from the ashes of that conflict and imposed their austere brand of Islam.

Afghans fear they will be abandoned by the United States once again. Most don’t want the Taliban to return, so they are determined to protect themselves.

And there are plenty of weapons; arms left over from the war against the Soviets, guns smuggled over the porous border with Pakistan and those sold by former mujahideen commanders.

Russian or Pakistani-made AK-47 assault rifles are the biggest sellers, followed by light machineguns. In some areas, the militias go for rocket-propelled grenades.

To avoid arrest, arms dealers and sellers operate by word of mouth, avoiding cellphones which may be tapped by authorities. Deals are sealed in restaurants, homes or busy street markets.

Afghan authorities say they’ve had success in seizures of illegal firearms but concede that in a country with a turbulent history, their efforts may have little impact.

The government was deeply embarrassed when Energy and Water Minister Ismail Khan, an influential former warlord, recently called on militias to rearm to protect Afghanistan after 2014.

General Mohammed Najib Aman, a deputy of the anti-terrorism department at the Interior Ministry, denies the illegal gun trade is flourishing.

“Buying and selling of weapon, without being authorized, is…illegal and they will be arrested,” Aman told Reuters.

The government is encouraging people to seek licenses for weapons so the authorities can track guns. Aman estimates between 30,000 and 40,000 gun licenses have been issued.

But the positive message from the government and NATO-led force runs counter to the unease on the streets, where the Afghan security force has gained little public confidence.

“In my area there are lots of kidnappings, robbery and other criminal activities and also lots of fear of 2014,” said Shir Ali, speaking in his pharmacy in northern Kunduz Province. “I bought this very expensive Kalashnikov to protest my family.”

‘GUN CULTURE’ ENTRENCHED

At least 57 foreign troops have been killed by rogue Afghan security personnel this year. That figure represents about 13 percent of ISAF deaths in Afghanistan in 2012.

Lieutenant General James Terry, deputy commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said the country’s “gun culture” was partly to blame.

“This is a society that’s really been traumatized by 30-plus years of war,” Terry said. “We also understand that a lot of grievances and dispute resolutions are done, frankly, at the barrel of a gun.”

Former mujahideen commanders in particular are cashing-in on the insecurity, using their wartime connections to acquire handguns and rifles and sell at inflated prices.

Islamuddin laid down his weapons after the Taliban was ousted in 2001, and became a used car salesman. These days that’s a front for his real money-making business.

He now sells light machine guns for 150,000 Afghanis ($2,900), double the value a year ago, and AK-47s for 60,000 Afghanis ($1,150), triple that of last year.

“People are worried, so they’re buying guns now because they might not be able to buy one when they most need it,” he said sitting in a hotel restaurant.

Militias also look to be heeding Ismail Khan’s call to arms.

“The number of sales and the price of guns has gone up and former mujahideen commanders who served warlords are buying more and more from us every day,” said one seller. “They’re anticipating civil war once the foreign troops leave.”

Not all Afghans expect a war. Waheed Mujhda, a politics expert at the Afghan Analytical and Advisory Centre, said even warlords realised renewed civil conflict would not help anyone.

“Having so many people owning guns is a big problem for the government, but it’s not a political problem,” he said. “There may be small conflicts after 2014, but civil war is unlikely. The last time, it was a failure that no one wants to see again.”