RASC News Agency: Some inhabitants of Herat Province in western Afghanistan affirm that unemployment and poverty have peaked in the area, leaving people deeply fatigued by this predicament. Omar, a resident of Herat Province, conveyed to RASC News Agency on Tuesday, May 14th, that individuals are apprehensive about the ramifications of unemployment and destitution.
He elaborated that a majority of people in Herat Province are entirely jobless and profoundly worn out by these circumstances. According to him, there are scant opportunities for young people to forge livelihoods for themselves. Meanwhile, Akram Hamidi, another resident of Herat Province, apprised RASC News Agency that the Taliban only extend employment prospects to those who conform to their ideology, thereby condemning others to destitution and unemployment.
He stressed further that the Taliban ought not to replicate the failures of past government officials. He contended that if this trajectory persists across all strata of society, the scale of catastrophe in Afghanistan will exacerbate. Additionally, some civic activists in Herat Province asserted that unemployment and poverty are rampant across Afghanistan.
Rabban Gharibzadeh, a civic activist in Herat Province, informed RASC News Agency that young people are resorting to drugs due to unemployment and bleak prospects. He underscored that the economic woes of the populace are worsening by the day, compounded by the Taliban’s indifference to the nation.
Conversely, Haroon Bashiri, a university professor in Afghanistan, informed RASC News Agency that the Taliban’s unresolved contracts in the country have deprived people of employment opportunities. He added that if Afghanistan’s infrastructure projects were inaugurated and operationalized by the Taliban, job prospects would be extended to hundreds and thousands of young people.
He further emphasized that Afghanistan currently boasts the finest engineers and a skilled labor force, assets which the Taliban authorities should harness to the fullest. Taliban authorities in Herat Province have refrained from commenting on this issue.