Cablegate: Prt Bamyan: Government Continues Journey Towards

VZCZCXRO3072
RR RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #4436/01 2711149
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281149Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2857
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0202
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 004436

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CR, EUR/RPM
NSC FOR HARRIMAN
OSD FOR BREZEZINSKI
REL NATO/AUST/NZ/ISAF
CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76
RELEASABLE TO NATO/NZ/AUSTRALIA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV EAID PHUM SOCI AF
SUBJECT: PRT BAMYAN: GOVERNMENT CONTINUES JOURNEY TOWARDS
ACCOUNTABILITY WITH SECOND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE

REF: 05 KABUL 5268

Summary
--------

1. (SBU) The Governor,s office organized and hosted a NZAID
funded two-day conference September 18-19 that outlined
ongoing development activity in Bamyan. While all of the
nine sector working groups of the Provincial Development
Committee (PDC) provided substantive presentations, some of
the sectors, such as justice, are clearly less active and
needier than the others. Participants appreciated the
conference information, and did not hesitate to outline a
litany of infrastructure needs. The Governor hopes to hold
this conference semi-annually to keep the public informed
about province-wide activities. End Summary.

The Basics
----------

2. (U) Governor Habiba Sarabi hosted a Conference September
18-19, on Bamyan development activities, which was primarily
funded through the PRT by NZAid, with supplemental funds from
Food and Agriculture Organization, Aga Khan Development
Network and DIAG. The Governor invited all of the six
district sub-governors, police chiefs, select community
representatives, the Provincial Council, the Wolesi Jirga
members, press, and the international assistance community to
hear and discuss the activities of the nine sector working
groups of the PDC since the last conference in December 2005
(Reftel) and for the coming six months.

3. (U) Over 200 participants questioned government officials
after each presentation on progress in the following sectors:
education, communications, health, social services,
agriculture, finance and trade, energy and water, security
and justice, and transportation. Department directors
provided slideshow presentations (prepared with considerable
donor assistance over the last month) to the participants
explaining: 1) accomplishments and projects undertaken in the
last nine months; 2) what &gaps8 exist in their sector; and
3) what they hope to achieve in the next six months. Wolesi
Jirga member Akbari from the Waras District, NDS Director
General Waziq, and Provincial Council Chairman Etamadi also
spoke briefly.

Participants Welcome Details and Pull No Punches
--------------------------------------------- ---

4. (U) Participants expressed general satisfaction that the
government held such an event on development activities.
They also rose to the challenge of holding accountable any
and all sector directors that they felt were not doing enough
within the province. Public participants and the district
sub-governors outlined a litany of needs (particularly roads,
wells and tents for schools) over the two-day conference.
While all nine sectors provided substantive presentations for
the public and were rigorously questioned, Public Health,
Justice and the NDS segments are highlighted here due to the
nature of the issues they raised.

Public Health - Making Headway
------------------------------

5. (U) Considered one of the most professional directors by
his peers, Public Health Director Dr. Shahir provided details
on a plethora of projects in his sector. He highlighted the
work of the Bamyan Provincial Hospital which sees
approximately 150-180 patients and performs 3-5 surgeries per
day. It is staffed by 12 doctors and 30 nurses. Since basic
hygiene training is a priority, they have offered basic
training to 667 individuals in this field. Shahir is now
working on creating a nursing program at the hospital, which
should commence by the end of this year. As well, according
to Shahir, the Japanese Embassy will provide 150 beds for the
hospital. Touching upon the critical issue of pregnancy care
within the province, he mentioned the ongoing training at the
nearby midwife school, funded by USAID, which will help

KABUL 00004436 002 OF 003

address the need for trained midwifes in remote/underserviced
areas of this province. (Note: Bamyan has one of the highest
infant mortality rates in Afghanistan. End Note)
District-wide he mentioned the four recent vaccine campaigns
against measles, hepatitis B, rabies and tetanus. He
concluded his presentation by referencing three key
weaknesses in the health field - currently the hospital is
not able to provide dental or psychological treatment for
those in need, nor are there enough community health workers
to service the entire province in his opinion.

Justice - 75 Percent Understaffed
---------------------------------

6. (SBU) As at the first conference, the participants had
many questions for Chief of Police Sayeed Akbar and Chief
Prosecutor Azizullah Hadafmand during the security and
justice segment. Among other concerns, the public asked
about the lack of district judges and prison officials and
what Hadafmand was doing to address the situation. According
to Hadafmand, there are no district judges in four (Punjab,
Waras, Khamard and Sayghan) of the seven districts and his
office is 75 percent understaffed. This problem exists
across the country, however, and can be attributed to the
poor salaries offered to prosecutors. With respect to the
prison officials, he indicated that an ordinary ANP officer
receives 3500 afgani (70 USD) per month while a prison guard
only earns around 800 afghani (16 USD) per month.

NDS Makes Plea for Public Assistance
------------------------------------

7. (SBU) While not part of the formal agenda, National
Directorate of Security (NDS) General Waziq made a brief,
impassioned pitch at the end of the conference for the
assistance of the public in order to keep the province safe
in the future. Waziq stated, &We,ve heard of
anti-government forces coming to the province8 as well as
the possibility that they are active in Bamyan. He indicated
that both the police and NDS need the public,s assistance if
they are to combat this problem. (Note: This was a
dramatically different approach than the one taken by former
Police Chief Wahadat at the December conference where he
painted a fantastic picture of security and stability in the
Province, claiming no armed groups operated in Bamyan
(reftel). End Note)

Conference Objectives Achieved
------------------------------

8. (SBU) While Governor Sarabi and Provincial Council
Chairman Etamadi both publicly chided two Directors (Public
Works and Rural Reconstruction and Development) for providing
insufficient details in their presentations, on the whole
Sarabi and the international assistance community were
pleased with the preparation of the directors and their
presentations. As an added bonus, over the last month the
directors have substantially strengthened their working
relationships with their international assistance partners.
These directors are now reaching out more frequently for
information on all of the myriad activities occurring in
their sectors and some have taken the next step and begun to
monitor these activities more closely.

Comment: Slowly Building Capacity
----------------------------------

9. (SBU) The Governor,s key goals for this development
conference (public dissemination of government activities and
goading less-active offices into action) were achieved.
According to NGO officials present at both conferences, all
of the sectors have come a long way since the last conference
in responding to the concerns of the public. A lot of work
remains, however, especially in the area of strategic
planning for the future. Due to the lack of legal training
and staff, the justice sector is probably one of the neediest
sectors within the province. To help address this weakness,
the PRT would welcome a program such as the Provincial

KABUL 00004436 003 OF 003

Judicial Council (PJC), which could provide a welcome
capacity boost to the few judicial officials in the province.

10. (SBU) We believe this regular conference is, and will
continue to be, a very worthwhile endeavor. We will be
looking at ways to ensure there is a follow-up conference
held in six months, time.
NORLAND

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