Afghanistan Seeking Cash To Build “New Kabul”
Next month Afghanistan plans to ask the international community for a half a billion dollars in order to start working on a “new Kabul”.
As was announced by President Hamid Karzai’s chief economic adviser, the northern area of Afghanistan’s chaotic capital will be turned into a modern city with an electric tram system and a huge central park complete with mountain and artificial lake.
However, international investors consider that the country shouldn’t spend scarce resources on “Kabul-centric” projects, but should instead focus on the development of national security, agriculture and the country’s feeble economy.
Military Photos reports on the planed development of “New Kabul”.
Despite the cool international reaction to the Dehsabz project, large amounts of preliminary work have already been done a detailed master plan is expected to be ready by the end of the year.
The development will fill a 500 square kilometer triangle of government-owned land flanked on all sides by mountains. The existing city covers an area of 350 sq km.
Rivers will be damned to provide water and electricity while solar and wind plants will help it fulfill its “eco-neutral” aspirations.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Saikal, the chief executive of the Dehsabz City Development Authority thinks that the planned changes should have been made even seven years ago.
Since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, Kabul has experienced explosive growth in one estimate the city’s population has grown from 400,000 to 3.5m in the past six years. Mr Saikal said steps should have been taken to develop a new urban area seven years ago.
“In every household we have three to four families. Sixty five per cent of all urban development in Kabul is illegal. We have a polluted city with traffic jams, overcrowding and very high unemployment.
Photo: © World Economic Forum
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