KANDAHAR (PAN): The residents of southern Kandahar Province vehemently demand of the Afghan government and international community to help stabilize security, build power dams, and help them ensure access to their agriculture products to markets.
The Kandahar residents want the Afghan government and the global fraternity to help remove unemployment, reform education sector, builds roads linking Kandahar to other districts, and improves governance in remote areas.
Provincial Council Head Haji Syed Jan Khakrizwal told Pajhwok Afghan News that the main demand of the residents is to bolster the security parameters. He is of the opinion that stringent security measures are imperative to launching development activities in the province.
He underlined the need to tackle the problems being faced by the people including administrative corruption, building of power dams, and reform the education sector.
Details show that the residents used to send around 300 letters each month, asking the provincial council to help them get rid of corruption in various institutions and ensure provision of other facilities in the area.
Khakrizwal said he conveyed the demands of the residents to the provincial administration and the president, adding that some of their demands including the release of innocent prisoners and resolving of local disputes have been accepted.
Infrastructure in the province would be developed, he said, admitting that the government has so far implemented projects having substandard, which neither benefit the public nor stay intact for long.
Residents demand of the government to implement the allocated projects without further delay, blaming the authorities of snatching the rights of the Kandaharies by citing that the projects could not be implemented because of insecurity.
Mohammad Zaman, a resident of Kandahar city said that the people of the restive Kandahar direly need electricity and the government should ensure provision of power. Since last decade, the Afghan government had held out promises with the people of Kandahar that they would be provided with the electricity but nothing could be done in that connection. He says: “Provision of electricity will help make factories operational, which will generate more and more employment opportunities. However, the current state of affairs of the people is that they consume more money because they run their businesses on power generators.”
Mohammad Karim, owner of a sandal factory said that the absence of electricity leaves negative impact on the production of his factory, adding that investors are not willing to set up factories in Kandahar.
 
Haji Dost Mohammad, a resident of Naghan area of Arghabdab village said that the major problem his people confronts with is that their agriculture products have no proper markets. He said that pomegranates of his area have greater reputation in international market but the fruit has no access to European and American markets.
Against the backdrop of multiple problems being faced by the agriculture sector, residents said that out of compulsion, they use to export their fruits to the neighboring Pakistan who further export those fruits by branding them with its own name.
They demand that the Afghan government should extend every possible support to the traders of the fresh and dry fruits in an apparent attempt to ensure its export to rest of the world. Another resident, Sardar Mohammad while complaining of continues joblessness, demand of the government to create more job opportunities to facilitate the masses.
“Hundreds of people wait on daily basis on the street of Kandahar city in an apparent attempt to get work but they find work once in a week,” he added.
Jamal, a resident of Zherai District underlined that authorities should take accelerated steps to bring some sort of tangible reforms in the education sector, adding that most of the schools have been shut because of security reasons while the functional schools are in dilapidated condition.
“The volatile Kandahar experiences short of professional teachers, textbooks, and absence of school buildings, which need attention of the government to ameliorate the situation,” he added.
Residents demand of the government to help initiate construct pave roads linking Kandahar to rest of the districts and remove the explosive being placed on the roads. Haji Khair Mohammad Baris, a resident of Shorabak District said that the road linking his town to the provincial capital is 230 kilometers long, which is a risky highway and the concerned department is needed to ensure security.
He said that his town is close to the Durand Line and the residents could not travel on the highway to Kandahar, forcing them to shift their patients on the other side of the border.
He demands of the government pave roads tend to expedite commercial activities because of the region close proximity to the Gwadar port in Pakistan.
“Though the district was purged of rebels a year ago but the district has only one district chief and district police chief that represent the government,” Abdul Samad, a resident of Mianshin District said.
He complained that the relevant quarters would yet meet the pledge that they had held out to improve the education, health sectors, and the performance of other departments in greater interests of the people of the area. He said the government could not win the favour and support of the people until the implementation of the development projects.