"Bringing Kandahar back to life"

" ‘All the better aspects’ returning to city once ruled by Taliban thugs
BY ANDREW MAYEDA 12 August 2007 in the Ottawa Citizen
KANDAHAR CITY

Six years ago, the only thriving business at Capthan Madad Square was the Taliban’s ministry for the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice.

Bands of Taliban prowled the square, ordering residents to turn off their music or scolding women for not wearing burkas. The streets, say residents who lived here at the time, were all but deserted.

The ministry building has since been destroyed in an air strike. In its place sits a commercial plaza with cellphone stores and electronics shops.

“Afghanistan was turned into a big jail,” said Naseem Mohammad, who recently opened a modern coffee shop that is already flourishing along the square.

“Now, it’s a democratic country with an open environment. Business is booming, technology is coming. All the better aspects of life are coming.”

As recently as a year ago, NATO commanders worried Kandahar City would fall back into the hands of the Taliban. Today, there are signs that the city is getting back on its feet. Traffic bustles, merchants hawk their wares on the sidewalk, and construction sites rattle with activity.

Still, the threat of violence remains a daily fact of life for Kandahar residents. Suicide bombings, ambushes of police checkpoints and assassinations of high-profile government and business figures are commonplace.

Unless Afghan and NATO forces quell the violence, local merchants warn, the city’s nascent recovery will fizzle.

“Some aspects are better, but in some ways things are not as good as they were supposed to be,” says Mr. Mohammad, who moved back to Kandahar from the United States a few years ago. “It’s a day-to-day struggle.”

Mr. Mohammad, 33, admits he was nervous when he opened the Kandahar Coffee Shop less than two years ago. He worried how the Taliban would react to a café that serves cheeseburgers and stocks American magazines. He considered posting armed guards at the entrance, but decided that would only make his shop more of a target.

Since then, his café has become a popular meeting place for young, educated Afghans and the occasional foreigner.

“They just want to get away from the daily stresses, the daily problems and political issues that are on the street,” says Mr. Mohammad.

The clean, brightly coloured shop features Internet access for patrons and a billiard room. He is building a room downstairs where women can congregate.

With small successes like these, Mr. Mohammad and fellow residents hope that Kandahar might one day regain its lustre. Founded by Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC, the city eventually became the first capital of the Afghan empire in the 18th century.

The city has enormous holy and cultural significance. It houses the mausoleum of Ahmad Shah Duranni, the first Afghan king. A shrine next door holds the cloak of Muhammad, which bequeaths upon its wearer the status of king of all Muslims.

In the 1970s, the city became a popular stop for backpackers making their way to the Far East.

But 30 years of near-constant conflict have taken their toll, and not everyone has decided to stick it out. Real estate prices have dropped as businesses and residents pack up for safer cities elsewhere in Afghanistan or across the border in Pakistan.

Sadullah Khan, a real estate agent in town, said prime real estate was commanding prices of $50 per square metre last year. These days, prices hover between $25 to $30 per square metre.

“The people are confused. They’re worried about their future, so a lot of people want to sell their land,” he said through an interpreter.

Businesses face other obstacles, such as corruption and inefficiency. Government officials implement the tax laws erratically, and businesses are often forced to pay bribes throughout their distribution chain, said Nasrullah Durrani, regional manager of the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency.

Factories producing everything from dried fruit to plastics often have to shut down because of blackouts. As Mr. Durrani talks about the lack of reliable electricity supply, the power goes out in his office.

“Compared with six years ago, things have improved. But it is getting worse again, because of the insecurity and other problems,” he said.

The provincial police chief, Sayed Agha Saqib, says the security situation in the city has improved in the past year, and suicide bombings and other insurgent attacks have become less common.

“The police control all parts of the city, as well as the districts,” he declared in an interview this week.

Mr. Saqib conceded, however, that the provincial force has sustained casualties in its clashes with insurgents in restive districts such as Panjwaii and Zhari. Such instability, even in the rural areas, can affect the city’s economy.

Abdul Bari, who owns a paint store in Kandahar, said rural customers are reluctant to travel because of security concerns in their districts.

“If you want to take money home at night, you have to carry a weapon to protect yourself,” he said."

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