From the Ambassador's Diary
Visit to Afghanistan, 10 Oct 2003 - 10 Nov 2003
I have just returned from a month long visit to Afghanistan. Before heading for Afghanistan, I led the Afghan delegation at the Senior Officials Meeting of the 10th Session of the Islamic Summit Conference in Malaysia (11-18 October 2003). Afterwards, I accompanied an Australian delegation to Kabul, where we explored the implementation of various projects. Later, I accompanied the New Zealand Prime Minister the Right Hon Helen Clark in her visit to Kabul and Bamian. I also had the pleasure of meeting the visiting UN Security Council Ambassadors. Assessing the reconstruction process of the capital Kabul and Bamian city was another highlight of the visit.
New Zealand Prime Minister's visit to Kabul and Bamian
Prime Minister Clark with President Karzai at state dinner
From 31 October to 1 November 2003, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark paid an official visit to Afghanistan. On her arrival, I attended the welcoming ceremony at Kabul International Airport. I also attended her meeting with President Karzai, the presidential state dinner reception in her honour and her courtesy call to the Former King of Afghanistan H.M. Mohammad Zahir Shah.
Prime Minister Clark with Former King HM Zahir Shah
I accompanied Prime Minister Clark and her delegation to the historic city of Bamian, where she visited the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), the Khoshkak Village, the hill top of Shar-i-Gholgula, the construction site of Bamian University and the ruins of the Buddha Statues.
We found Bamian pretty safe and secure. The New Zealand troops enjoyed the support of the local community. At lunch time I sat next to the Prime Minister and talked to the New Zealand soldiers. I asked how they felt being in Afghanistan? The answers were all pleasing to hear. They all loved being there. They loved the Afghan food and hospitality. The food we ate comprised of a mix of Afghan and Western dishes. Later I found an Afghan who was responsible for cooking the delicious "Boulani". I complimented the cooking. The New Zealanders had occupied a military base which was built and later evacuated by the Americans and they had called it "Kiwi Base".
Prime Minister Clark with Foreign Minister Dr Abdullah
Unfortunately, Bamian has always been without power, roads, drinking water, education and health systems. To see the most historic city of Afghanistan devoid of those key elements of infrastructure was surprising. While the Bamian Governor, Mohammad Rahim Ali Yar, was very eloquent in going through the immediate infrustracture needs of his province to Prime Minister Clark, he did not seem to have a master-plan or a vision for the reconstruction and redevelopment of the city. Around the dinner table, at Bamian Governor's reception, I discussed the matter at length with a USAID official and an officer of the US Department of Agriculture. Later in the evening, I had a separate meeting with Governor Ali Yar and explored ways and means of developing a comprehensive strategy of recovery and development for the city.
With Prime Minister Clark and Governor Rahim Ali Yar in Bamian
UN Security Council Ambassador's Visit
Between 2-7 November UN Security Council Ambassadors visited Afghanistan. Germany's Ambassador to the United Nations, Gunter Pleuger, headed the 22 member delegation. Other well known members of the delegation included US Ambassador to UN John Negroponte. Afghan Ambassador to the United Nations Dr Abdul Ghafoor Ravan Farhadi had also come to Kabul to accompany the delegation.
With Negroponte, US Ambassador to the UN
The delegation held extensive meetings with Afghan and ISAF officials and visited Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif.
On the eve of their departure from Afghanistan, I had the opportunity to talk to Ambassador Negroponte and delegates from Syria (Bassam Sabagh) and Cameroon (Mathieu Blaise Banoum). They were all reasonably pleased with their first visit to Afghanistan. Negroponte's attention was drawn to the revitalization of agricultural irrigation in Afghanistan. He thought it was crucial to get the irrigation system up and running as soon as possible. I couldn't agree with him more, since agriculture formed the backbone of the Afghan economy. But I also highlighted the importance of good coordination of aid and master-planning to him. He agreed but told me that was an internal matter for Afghanistan. I thought while that was our internal matter, there was no way the traditional system of Afghan coordination and master-planning could satisfy the needs of
massive reconstruction and development works. It was therefore crucial that Afghanistan was assisted by the developed donor countries in elevating its coordination and master-planning capacity.
Beautiful Bamian Valley from the ruined head of Buddha
OIC Summit in Malaysia
After many years of absence, this was the first time that Afghanistan was taking an active part in the OIC Summit. The Summit, the largest gathering of 57 Islamic countries, had three parts: the Senior Officials Meeting, Ministerial Preparatory Meeting and the actual Session of the Islamic Summit Conference, attended by Heads of States/Governments.
The Summit was mainly dominated by the Israeli air strike on Syria and the Palestinian issue. While we welcomed most of the items on the agenda, we proposed that post-conflict members of the OIC form an association among themselves and share the reconstruction experience and expertise. The idea was welcomed by delegates from Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Iraq, as well as the Deputy Secretary General of the OIC. Also, given the massive reintegration problems of the three million Afghan returnees, we proposed the return and reintegration of refugees to be included under "Problems of refugees in the Muslim world". Generally, the delegates were quite keen to hear the voice of Afghanistan.
During my brief stay in Malaysia, I was very much impressed by the course of physical and social development in that country. The emergence of Putrajaya as a satellite city next to Kuala Lumpur, for government use, was really impressive. Equally impressive was the leadership of Prime Minister Muhathir Mohammad. One day I found him driving his own car alone and inspecting the various building sites at Putrajaya. Later, I saw President Karzai on Afghan Television, addressing a group of Afghan religious scholars and praising the wise leadership of Muhathir Mohammad.
Projects in Kabul & Australian Delegation
Members of Australian delegation in Kabul
A number of joint projects between Afghanistan and Australia needed further coordination in Kabul. Also, a draft memorandum of understanding on further cooperation between the two countries needed to be discussed with the Afghan authorities.
A joint Australian-Afghan delegation, including Ms Rosemary Greaves, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and myself, arrived in Kabul. The delegation held meetings with Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Abdullah, Minister for Refugees and Repatriation Mr. Enayatullah Nazari, Deputy Minister for Interior General Helalludin Helal, Deputy Minister for Urban Development and Housing Mr. Nasir A. Saberi, officials from Kabul Municipality, UNHCR, UN-Habitat and IOM.
With Deputy Minister Saberi and Engineer Same
The Australian delegation left Kabul on 17 October. However, I remained in Kabul to further pursue the coordination of the projects and also to conduct my other official duties and activities.
Meeting Officials
During my stay in Kabul, I had meetings with President Hamid Karzai and I attended an Iftar reception at the presidential palace. I had several meetings with Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Abdullah. I also held meetings with Ministers for Finance, Education, Public Health, Higher Education, Information and Culture, Commerce, Reconstruction, Refugees and Repatriation, Deputy Minister for Interior, Deputy Minister for Urban Development and Housing, Director-General of Afghanistan Radio & Television, UNESCO Director, IOM Chief of Mission, senior officials of UN-Habitat and Head of Afghanistan Reconstruction Coordination Office.
Kabul Reconstruction & the emergence of Green Town
New Apartment block of Green Town under construction
I could see a large number of renovated and new buildings, parks, roads etc…throughout the city, but no sign of the much anticipated waste management system yet.
The most obvious change was the increase in the number of vehicles and therefore heavy traffic jams. Numerous times I experienced traffic coming to a standstill for lengthy periods of time. Kabul roads which could hardly take fifty thousand cars in the so-called good old days, were now jammed with probably more than five hundred thousand vehicles. While the increase in traffic is interpreted as a sign of confidence in peace and stability of the capital, the lack of addressing the problem of the traffic jams was disturbing.
The other obvious problem in the city was the density of the population. Kabul population is now estimated between 2.5 - 3 million people. Government's immediate response to this is to encourage the emergence of new satellite towns/cities around the capital to disperse the population. The building of new towns, however, will take time. It's also not very clear to what extent these new towns/cities are coordinated with the overall strategy of reconstruction and the future master plan of Kabul.
Mr Nabeel and his concrete production machinery
One of the most interesting of these new towns/cities is "The Green Town" (better known to the locals as Sharak-i-Sabz) in North-East Kabul. It's a mainly self-contained residential town with commercial and light industrial facilities and many public buildings to take care of the immediate needs of the dwellers. Green Town, designed by Aria Noor Poya Consulting Engineers, is the initiative of a young and energetic Afghan investor, Mr Nabi Nabeel.
I visited the construction site and was impressed with the speed of work. Already many kilns have gone up on and around the site, producing thousands of clay bricks for construction of the new town. Nabeel is planning to establish his own factories producing most of the construction materials. Already he produces his own concrete and marble. More than 600 modern apartments in the town have already been sold. Green Town is supposed to be a model for the development of other towns in the future. The combination of these new towns to form a new city altogether.
The New Face of Kabul City
Draft of New Constitution
The long overdue draft for the new Afghan Constitution was released while I was in Kabul. Despite its late arrival and debatable issues, it was welcomed by many Afghans. I skimmed through it the following day.
At a glimpse it looked like a modern constitution which has been carefully crafted for the current and future life of the country. Listening to the Afghan leaders and commentators, some were concerned about the powers of the president. They were calling for a parliamentary system. They thought a president, directly elected and mandated by the people, with all those powers mentioned in the draft, may have the opportunity to establish dictatorship. They were in favour of members of parliament going to election and afterwards electing a president.
While the playing down of sectarian, ethnic and linguistic issues by the draft constitution was welcomed by most, the mention of Afghan national anthem to be in Pashto language had raised some eye-brows here an there. One suggestion was for the anthem to be a combination of all well known Afghan languages.
Some were more concerned about the implementation of the law rather than the making of it. They called for a concurrent public awareness campaign on the values of constitution and election.
