Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Kandahar Municipality Expects 800m Afs in Revenue this Year

Kandahar Municipality Expects 800m Afs in Revenue this Year

KANDAHAR - The mayor of southern Kandahar province says the municipality’s revenue is expected to reach 800 million afghanis until the end of the year.
Rokhan Wolasmal told Pajhwok Afghan News during an interview that they had so far collected 350 million afghanis in revenue since March 22 and the returns were expected to reach 800 million afs until the end of the year (March 21, 2018).
The mayor said the municipality’s revenue last year was 510 million afghanis --- the highest in the past 15 years. He said Kandahar municipality was the second largest revenue maker after Kabul municipality.
He linked the increased revenue to the strengthening of the urban governance and prevention of corruption to a great extent.
He said of the 350 million afghanis so far collected this year, 320 million afs had been spent on development activities and services, but the revenue generation continued.
The residents of Kandahar City have been proactively playing their role in monitoring implementation of development activities. A professional academic council has been created in this regard. University teachers, religious scholars and women are members of the council.
The Kandahar mayor mentioned a number of projects which have been completed or being completed in the 15 police districts of the city.
Wolasmal said so far 20 kilometers of roads had been asphalted in various parts of Kandahar City. He said 11 acres of land was converted into a green zone last year and another 20 acres would be converted this year.
The mayor said installations relating to the Zahir Shahi Canal had been completed and the area would be converted into a green zone until Aino Mena township.
Similarly, the Mirwais Mena road area would be changed into a green belt till Bagh Pul locality.
The mayor said work on 1300 shops and commercial zone in Ahmad Shahi area had been 80 percent completed and another 400 shops were being built in partnership with local residents.
He said work on 100 shops north of Kandahar City had been completed and a women’s market containing 30 shops was being constructed in Chawni area.
Markets for dried fruits will be constructed on western outskirts of Kandahar City and the foundation stone of a huge food market will be laid in Kotal Morcha area, according to the mayor.
He said the sketch of 400 trade centers in various parts of Kandahar city was being prepared and practical work on the project would be launched soon.
Wolasmal said work on reconstructing and expanding major squares in the city like the Jamhoriat Monument and relating squares would be carried out to deal with increasing traffic.
“This way, the development process will be extended to the neighborhood from the central parts of the city,” said the mayor.
He said his department had been able to utilize 50 million afghanis provided by the Ministry of Finance in constructing a boundary wall around a 375-acre land for a recreation park. The land was formerly used by the Afghan military in the heart of the city.
The mayor also talked about the incomplete Omar Bin Khitab mosque, saying the mosque would be completed with financial support from the Ministry of Finance.
He also asked the Ministry of Finance to help the municipality acquire the home of Ahmad Shah Baba because the municipality alone could not do it.Hindu-Sikh minorities lament lack of dedicated schools
Wolasmal said besides these achievements, his department was able to obtain foreign aid, including $1.8 million from the European Union currently being used to execute the Pak and Zarghon Sharh project.
The mayor also mentioned some upcoming projects including embanking of the Zahir Shahi Canal and construction of the Taimur Shahi park.
He said they had created 300 councils in 15 police districts to carry out economic and development activities worth $550,000 in three years for each 1000 families.
Wolasmal recently visited Turkey where he met the World Bank leadership. He said two major programs – City Investment Program (CIP) and Urban Development Support Project (UDSP) -- would be implemented in the country’s five zones with the World Bank’s assistance.
He said the two projects would cost  $12 million and $250 million respectively and included clean drinking water supply, canalization and other development and economic schemes.
The mayor said residences and commercial areas would be registered with the help of UN Habitat in order to prevent corruption in collection of the cleanliness tax.
He also mentioned a USAID-funded vocation training program “Shahr. (Pajhwok)