Paktika residents unhappy with New Kabul Bank services

SHARANA (Pajhwok): Some government servants and common people allege the New Kabul Bank branch in southeastern Paktika province has failed in providing services to clients who face numerous problems.

Shah Mahmood, a resident of Sharana, the provincial capital, said there was only one bank branch in the city and that was the New Kabul Bank.

“Tens of military and civil servants wait for long hours outside the New Kabul Bank Branch and sometimes due to technical issues and rush, customers are not allowed to enter the bank,” he complained.

Mahmood said common people did not feel comfortable in the presence of military personnel as they feared rebel attacks on them.

A local policeman, Adul Razaq, said the New Kabul Bank had been unable to provide best services to its customers. “Policemen, teachers, businessmen and common people come to the bank, but no one get timely services.”

“Every day, dozens of people wait from morning to evening, but many return without their work being done. Irregularities waste time and resources of people,” the policeman remarked.

Another policeman Seg. Khan Mohammad suggested the Kabul Bank should open more branches or salaries of government servants be paid through the revenue officer.

Ahmad, a teacher from Khairkot district, said he had been in Sharana for the past six days to get his salary from the Kabul Bank. He said he could not attend his classes in the past six days.

But Pir Mohammad, head of the New Kabul Bank in Paktika, said there was problem in the government system as they were not provided salaries of public servants in-time.

Governor’s spokesman Mohammad Rahman Ayaz said the transfer of New Kabul Bank from its original place to another building near the police headquarters was under consideration.

He said the provincial government had talked with other banks regarding the issue and had encouraged them to open their branches in the province.

Besides other provinces, civil servants in Kabul also complain against poor services of the New Kabul Bank.

nh/ma