KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): Recent heavy rains and flash floods have caused millions of afghanis losses to the livestock and industry besides crops and residential homes in southern Kandahar province.
Officials say the livestock suffered 63 million afghanis and industry 75 million afghanis loss as a result of the floods.
Eng. Mohammadullah Noori, livestock promotion program in-charge at Kandahar’s agriculture department, told Pajhwok Afghan News that a total of 63m afghanis losses were inflicted on nomads’ animals and chicken, fish and bee farms in the province.
He said 3,000 sheep, goats, donkeys and other animals belonging to nomads were lost to the floods in Arghandab, Zheri, Panjwai and Dand districts of Kandahar, which he said caused 45 million afghanis loss.
Three of four chicken farms having 12,000 chickens in total were also lost to the floods and each farm cost 600,000 afghanis for construction.
Noori said Afghan Kab, a fish farming company in Kandahar city, which exports fishes to 16 provinces of the country, was also seriously damaged.
He said the company lost 100,000 baby fishes and the pool they were kept in caused the company three million afghanis loss.
About damages to bee farms, he said 18 bee farms in Kandahar city and districts were seriously affected in the floods.
He said 1,000 boxes of bees worth 11 million afghanis were lost to the natural disaster.
Farm owners in Kandahar say they would revive their businesses if the government supports them.
Fazl Ahmad, owner of Afghan Kab company, told Pajhwok that his pool containing 100,000 baby fishes was destroyed and a result his workers were rendered jobless.
He said he alone could not compensate the losses he suffered and the government should help him.
Ahmad said if an investor suffered losses in natural disasters, the government shall compensate 80 percent of the damage, according to the industry law.
Rains and floods also caused 75 million afghanis losses to factories in Kandahar’s Industrial Park, leaving dozens of people jobless.
Abdul Bari, head of Kandahar Industrialists Association, told Pajhwok that both factory buildings and machineries were damaged by the floodwater.
“Factories suffered nearly 75 million afghanis loss in the Industrial Park due to the flood. The municipality also neglected the factories’ protection and around 1,500 workers lost jobs due to inactivity of the factories,” he said.
He said they paid charges for the land and services, but received no good services they required in return.
Bari also asked the government for help and said the municipality should build roads of the Industrial Park to prevent further damages in future.
Haji Rahmuddin Agha, head of Afghanistan Entrepreneurs Board, said that lack of roads and bridges in the Kandahar Industrial Park made factories vulnerable to even little rainfall and floods.
He also asked the government to pay attention to the issue and provide electricity to factories. He said 80 out of 220 factories were currently struggling with shortage of electricity in Kandahar.
Zamarai Sargand, Kandahar municipality spokesman, said they had the plan to construct some roads in the Industrial Park with support from the World Bank in near future. He said construction of roads would cost $600,000.
He added major problems of the Industrial Park would be solved with the road’s construction and some other necessary services would also be provided.
President Ashraf Ghani during his trip to Kandahar on Saturday announced 100,000 afghanis in emergency help to flood affected families in the province.
Besides financial losses, 95 people suffered casualties, 6,000 families rendered homeless and thousands of acres of farmland damaged in recent floods in Kandahar.
mds/ma
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