Afghans Complain About Electricity Shortages in World’s “Darkest” Capital

Text of report by privately-owned Afghan Ariana TV on 4 April

[Presenter] The people in Kabul complain about the lack of electricity in the capital. Such complaints are not new and government officials’ reasons are repeated. However, this time the people start complaining about the lack of electricity in the first days of the New Year. Last year, at this time, the people were satisfied with the available electricity. However, officials claim that due to the lack of water it is not possible for them to provide round-the-clock electricity in all areas of Kabul. The electricity officials in Kabul called on the people to be patient for another three months until electricity grids are extended from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan [to Kabul].

My colleague Emal Habib has a report on this:

[Reporter] The residents of Kabul complain about the lack of electricity. They say that six years after the establishment of the new government, Kabul is still the darkest capital in the world. They say that in the past they had been suffering from a lack of electricity during the winters. However, this year there is no electricity even during the spring. The residents of Kabul say that despite the provision of funds by the international community, to the relevant ministry, no fundamental step has been taken to address this problem.

[First unidentified man in Dari] For the development of a country like Afghanistan electricity and highways are very important. Most of businesses and factories are directly linked to electricity. Unfortunately, six years on we still have no electricity in the capital. We would like the government to take some serious measures to address these problems.

[Second unidentified man in Dari] There is no stable electricity at all. The people spent the harsh winter with the hope of at least having electricity at night times. Unfortunately, there is no electricity.

[Reporter] However, Sarwar Sediqi, head of Kabul Power Department, says electricity problems will be over in the next six months. He says that the government has started to work on long- term projects. Mr Sediqi says shortage of water is the main reason for shortage of electricity in Kabul.

[Head of Kabul Power Department] You may know that all efforts are under way to provide electricity to the residents of Kabul. Unfortunately, we cannot provide round-the-clock electricity due to shortage of water in the dams which produce electricity. In additional to electricity from these dams, we use 18,000 litres of fuel for the generators. For the time being this is what we have in hand and we cannot promise anything in the next month or so.

[Reporter] Some experts believe that six years is a long period and the government should have been able to complete any type of project during this period. They say that Kabul is the only capital in the world which has no electricity.

Originally published by Ariana TV, Kabul, in Dari 1530 4 Apr 08.

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