KABUL – Ministry o Urban Development (MoUD) officials on Wednesday expressed concerns about the continued growth of informal, unsanctioned residential construction in cities around the country, but especially in Kabul. They have warned that the urban sprawl will make planned urban development programs more difficult to implement in the future.

According to the ministry, power-brokers in various parts of the country have developed illegal residential housing on land they have seized in order to exploit rising demand for urban living space. Out of 350 recently founded villages, officials say 200 of them are unsanctioned.

Officials warned that a law delineating construction violations and their consequences is currently in the works, and would soon be passed and implemented in order to prevent further proliferation of illegal housing construction.

"In order to prevent the construction of illegal towns, we are working on a law of construction violations, and with the approval of the law, even those who confiscated 1 meter of land will be punished," Deputy Urban Development Minister Eng. Mohammad Akbar Ahmadi said on Wednesday.

The construction of these towns is inherently linked to the commonality of land-grabbing in Afghanistan. For decades, but especially since the NATO invasion in 2001, powerful local leaders, corrupt officials and members of the business community have taken advantage of the lack of rule of law in the country and seized land illegally for their own gain. It is much of this land that has since been converted into residential living space that can be profited from.

Independent economic analysts have warned that the government is likely too weak to crackdown on these powerful individuals, many of whom are influential within the government itself.

"We witnesses every day the increase of illegal towns, but the government does not do anything to prevent them; in fact, the government does not have the ability to stop such constructions because most of the illegal towns were constructed by people who are working in high positions within the government," analyst Bashir Shabiri said.

One of the major concerns about the unsanctioned construction activity is that much of it does not comply with basic engineering and living safety standards, putting those who reside in the new villages at great risk. (Tolo News)