PUL-I-KHUMRI (Pajhwok): The provincial council head in northern Baghlan province on Sunday said they have evaluated the performance of 20 local departments in the province and found the municipality, education and disaster preparedness departments’ work not satisfactory and amid no transparency.
After swearing-in, Baghlan provincial council was mired in internal problems of not being able to elect administrative board and later went on strike for 40 days in order to regain oversight right over local departments.
Mohammad Safdar Mohsini, provincial council head, told Pajhwok Afghan News since they embarked upon their work they have evaluated the performance of 20 departments. The work of Pul-i-Khumri’s municipality, he said, was the most unsatisfactory.
There were more challenges in municipality, including lack of transparency in its expenses, and distribution of agro-based and textile lands, he recalled.
Lack of attention to discharging waste from the city, Mohsini added, was another major problem.
Safar Mohammad Safar, Pul-i-Khumri mayor, however, said: “I have shared all the problems and challenges with provincial council members and I hope they could help us resolve them.”
Safar said lack of cooperation from police and presence of powerful figures in the province had added to their problems.
Zabihullah Andarabi, 1st district police chief in Pul-i-Khumri, rejected Safar’s claims, saying police have always cooperated with the municipality in implementing its programmes.
Provincial council head said the departments of education and disaster preparedness also had many shortcomings after their evaluation.
He added despite a presidential decree banning hiring and sacking any staff at departments, the education department had hired some new employees.
Mohsini said teachers did not receive salary on time, and students still faced shortages of books.
According to Mohsini a major challenge for provincial council until now had been lack of cooperation by the governor’s office and some departments.
He added the performance of the rural development, agriculture, information and culture, and communications have relatively been satisfactory. They also planned to evaluate the performance of remaining departments and submit reports to the directorate of local governance, governor’s office and Baghlan residents.
Mohammad Nasim, a local elder in Pul-i-Khumri, said the provincial council members have played better role in bridging the gap between residents and the government officials.
He added it was premature to judge them about their performance.
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