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A city of 500,000 to 5 million in just ten years. Kabul is in the midst of great growth
as people from rural areas of Afghanistan move to the capital for greater employment
opportunities.
But with such growth comes a huge list of problems: and from garbage collection to bad
roads, it's Kabul's mayor, Yunus Nawandish that has to find ways to make an essentially
unplanned city work.
“We have a problem here because the infrastructure of the city was not built. To build the infrastructure
like canalisation, water supply system after the completion of the city, it is difficult
and very expensive, but we must to do that.”
Kabul municipality had long been considered the most corrupt department in the city, but
since the last mayor was imprisoned on corruption charges, Mayor Nawandish has been key in improving
Kabulis' perception of the department with his hands-on approach.
“Here is not completed. Here we have the green background here and we will have the
green background here also.” (bends down to pick at weeds).
Pulling weeds with his own hands, the former civil engineer is a common sight on the streets,
but he doesn't feel insecure.
“In a normal situation up to ten, eleven o' clock I walk in streets and everywhere....but
I think the city's secure and we don't have problem of security.”
However, he does worry that events like the recent attacks on the US embassy in Kabul
will put off private investors in the city.
“The majority of master developers we’ve negotiated with, that want to come and invest
in Kabul city, they get worried about security when these attacks happen. It affects our
programmes and it could scare away foreign developers from investing in Kabul.”
Since he started the job in 2010, Mayor Nawandish has increased municipality salaries to the
hundreds rather than tens of dollars to decrease the effectiveness of bribery and corruption.
He's also presided over kilometres of city roads asphalted, 1.5 million trees planted
and has plans to have all main roads lit at night. But his vision of Kabul as a modern
city goes much further.
“Providing all city services, providing healthy drinking water, parks, places for
fun, guest houses, luxury hotels, modern buildings and also roads, bridges, tunnels and all the
other things that we can see in the modern cities.”
And although Kabul has a fraction of the budget compared to modern cities, he won't cut corners.
Visiting the construction of a playground, he doesn't put up with a shoddy job.
“Look, I’m an engineer I know this kind of work and I say what it should be like.
Don’t try and tell me what it should be like.”
With the hundreds of illegal settlements in the capital and an often overly complicated
bureaucratic system, the mayor's job is not an easy one. But his personal drive combined
with visible signs of progress have made his popularity rate soar. If he can keep his feet
on the ground and his hands in the earth, he may achieve his dream of a green and modern
Kabul.