Kamdesh residents without basic facilities since decades

ASADABAD (Pajhwok): Residents of Kamdesh district in eastern Nuristan province say no attention has been paid to their district in terms of basic facilities of life in the last two decades.

They urged the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to implement development schemes concerning health, education, agriculture and livestock, telecommunication and roads.

Mohammad Ismail, an inhabitant of Markazi village of district, told Pajhwok Afghan News not a single project could be implemented in their area due to the past conflict in the country.

He said: “Our area was hit hard by wars, we remained deprived of basic life services such roads, health services, agriculture and livestock.”

He added residents of the district were poor and met their daily needs through livestock, but not a single project had approved in this sector by government.

Abdul Zahir, a tribal elder of Monda Gul area of the district, said an unpaved road was built to their area during the reign of last king of Afghanistan Mohammad Zahir Zahir Shah and after that they had long been deprived of basic life facilities.

He said they had suffered a lot due to personal enmities in addition to past conflicts.

He added many people had become homeless, many killed and their children deprived of education due to personal enmities.

He added: “Two decades of war raged in our region, enmity between Kamdesh and Kushtuzo villages was another problem that made people’s lives bitter. Our people are very poor and they are deprived of many basic life facilities.”

Noor Habib, another tribal elder, said residents of many villages of the district lacked access to health services and they used to take their patients to district health centre.

He said: “Many of our villages do not have roads. The health center that exists at the district level is far from us, a limited number of people have access to this center. We want the caretaker government to provide us with health services in our areas.”

He also urged the IEA to implement development schemes in areas of health, education and livestock in the remote districts of the country.

Meanwhile, local officials also acknowledge residents of Kamdesh district are deprived of basic life facilities.

Information and Culture Director Maulvi Sami-ul-haq Bayan told Pajhwok they would pay attention to those areas where development schemes were not implemented due to past conflict.

He said: “Fortunately, security has been ensured across the country. We try to implement development projects according to people’s needs and demand.”

Kamdesh district is situated is the east of Nuristan which does not have linking road with Paron, the provincial capital and people of this district should first go to Kunar and then to Paron.

kk/ma