RASC: Residents of Bamsara village in Sadat Valley in the center of Bamyan confirm that thousands of acres of their land have been destroyed due to the incompetence of a non-governmental organization in the construction of a water channel.
They also accuse the Watan Social and Technical Services Institute (WSTSI), which is the contractor of this project, of “coercion”.
Residents of Bamsara village in Bamyan say that the construction of this canal project started on the March 14 this year at a cost of 96,000 dollars with the funding of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the “WSTSI” Institute.
According to the residents of this village, the contractor destroyed about 900 meters of this canal and said that “the water will be cut off for three days and the canal will be rebuilt during this period”, but this institution has not succeeded in doing this after more than forty days. Residents of this area said that the delay in rebuilding this canal has caused “at least 12 thousand acres of agricultural land to be destroyed due to lack of water.” These citizens believe that “the cost of this damage will be several times the cost spent on the construction of this canal.” On the other hand, another resident of Bamsara village complains about the quality of the work of the contractor of the canal construction project.
This resident, who does not want his identity to be revealed, says: “This channel was not worked in a standard way and stone without cement was used. “When we closed the water way, it flowed from around the stream and moved towards the village down this canal in the form as a flood.”
Meanwhile, one of the residents of this area, who works in the construction of this canal, claimed that when they complained about the slowness of work to the officials of the WSTSI Institute. This institute ignored them and said: “We work like this, you are free to complain, until the United Nations” the governor of the Taliban in Bamyan and the directorate of rural development of the Taliban.”
These people say that some journalists have previously refused to publish reports “for unknown reasons” despite interviewing them.
However, local Taliban officials confirm that they have received complaints from the people regarding the construction of a water channel by WSTSI Institute in Bamsara village.
Ziaullah Khadim, the director of Taliban rural development, told the media that this department will investigate and monitor this issue and “if there is a problem” they will “stop” the process of rebuilding this channel.
This Taliban official also said in a video message that this project is implemented under the supervision of the Taliban Rural Development and Rehabilitation Department and includes the “sector” of this department.
Ziaullah Khadim added that the monitoring report of this project was “not good” and he wants this institution to be “accountable”. He warned that the Taliban government and his presidency “will not approve the incomplete project.”
It should be noted that it is not only the residents of Bamsara village who accuse the Watan Institute of incompetence and bullying, but also a number of Bamiani citizens have also complained from Watan institute of peculation of Humanitarian aid by sending video clips.
