VZCZCXRO3072
RR RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #4436/01 2711149
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281149Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2857
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0202
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 004436 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CR, EUR/RPM 
NSC FOR HARRIMAN 
OSD FOR BREZEZINSKI 
REL NATO/AUST/NZ/ISAF 
CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76 
RELEASABLE TO NATO/NZ/AUSTRALIA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV EAID PHUM SOCI AF
SUBJECT: PRT BAMYAN: GOVERNMENT CONTINUES JOURNEY TOWARDS 
ACCOUNTABILITY WITH SECOND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE 
 
REF: 05 KABUL 5268 
 
Summary 
-------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The Governor,s office organized and hosted a NZAID 
funded two-day conference September 18-19 that outlined 
ongoing development activity in Bamyan.  While all of the 
nine sector working groups of the Provincial Development 
Committee (PDC) provided substantive presentations, some of 
the sectors, such as justice, are clearly less active and 
needier than the others.  Participants appreciated the 
conference information, and did not hesitate to outline a 
litany of infrastructure needs.  The Governor hopes to hold 
this conference semi-annually to keep the public informed 
about province-wide activities.  End Summary. 
 
The Basics 
---------- 
 
¶2. (U) Governor Habiba Sarabi hosted a Conference September 
18-19, on Bamyan development activities, which was primarily 
funded through the PRT by NZAid, with supplemental funds from 
Food and Agriculture Organization, Aga Khan Development 
Network and DIAG.  The Governor invited all of the six 
district sub-governors, police chiefs, select community 
representatives, the Provincial Council, the Wolesi Jirga 
members, press, and the international assistance community to 
hear and discuss the activities of the nine sector working 
groups of the PDC since the last conference in December 2005 
(Reftel) and for the coming six months. 
 
¶3. (U) Over 200 participants questioned government officials 
after each presentation on progress in the following sectors: 
 education, communications, health, social services, 
agriculture, finance and trade, energy and water, security 
and justice, and transportation.  Department directors 
provided slideshow presentations (prepared with considerable 
donor assistance over the last month) to the participants 
explaining: 1) accomplishments and projects undertaken in the 
last nine months; 2) what &gaps8 exist in their sector; and 
3) what they hope to achieve in the next six months.  Wolesi 
Jirga member Akbari from the Waras District, NDS Director 
General Waziq, and Provincial Council Chairman Etamadi also 
spoke briefly. 
 
Participants Welcome Details and Pull No Punches 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶4. (U) Participants expressed general satisfaction that the 
government held such an event on development activities. 
They also rose to the challenge of holding accountable any 
and all sector directors that they felt were not doing enough 
within the province.  Public participants and the district 
sub-governors outlined a litany of needs (particularly roads, 
wells and tents for schools) over the two-day conference. 
While all nine sectors provided substantive presentations for 
the public and were rigorously questioned, Public Health, 
Justice and the NDS segments are highlighted here due to the 
nature of the issues they raised. 
 
Public Health - Making Headway 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (U) Considered one of the most professional directors by 
his peers, Public Health Director Dr. Shahir provided details 
on a plethora of projects in his sector.  He highlighted the 
work of the Bamyan Provincial Hospital which sees 
approximately 150-180 patients and performs 3-5 surgeries per 
day.  It is staffed by 12 doctors and 30 nurses.  Since basic 
hygiene training is a priority, they have offered basic 
training to 667 individuals in this field.  Shahir is now 
working on creating a nursing program at the hospital, which 
should commence by the end of this year.  As well, according 
to Shahir, the Japanese Embassy will provide 150 beds for the 
hospital.  Touching upon the critical issue of pregnancy care 
within the province, he mentioned the ongoing training at the 
nearby midwife school, funded by USAID, which will help 
 
KABUL 00004436  002 OF 003 
 
 
address the need for trained midwifes in remote/underserviced 
areas of this province.  (Note: Bamyan has one of the highest 
infant mortality rates in Afghanistan. End Note) 
District-wide he mentioned the four recent vaccine campaigns 
against measles, hepatitis B, rabies and tetanus.  He 
concluded his presentation by referencing three key 
weaknesses in the health field - currently the hospital is 
not able to provide dental or psychological treatment for 
those in need, nor are there enough community health workers 
to service the entire province in his opinion. 
 
Justice - 75 Percent Understaffed 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) As at the first conference, the participants had 
many questions for Chief of Police Sayeed Akbar and Chief 
Prosecutor Azizullah Hadafmand during the security and 
justice segment.  Among other concerns, the public asked 
about the lack of district judges and prison officials and 
what Hadafmand was doing to address the situation.  According 
to Hadafmand, there are no district judges in four (Punjab, 
Waras, Khamard and Sayghan) of the seven districts and his 
office is 75 percent understaffed.  This problem exists 
across the country, however, and can be attributed to the 
poor salaries offered to prosecutors.  With respect to the 
prison officials, he indicated that an ordinary ANP officer 
receives 3500 afgani (70 USD) per month while a prison guard 
only earns around 800 afghani (16 USD) per month. 
 
NDS Makes Plea for Public Assistance 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU) While not part of the formal agenda, National 
Directorate of Security (NDS) General Waziq made a brief, 
impassioned pitch at the end of the conference for the 
assistance of the public in order to keep the province safe 
in the future.  Waziq stated, &We,ve heard of 
anti-government forces coming to the province8 as well as 
the possibility that they are active in Bamyan.  He indicated 
that both the police and NDS need the public,s assistance if 
they are to combat this problem.  (Note: This was a 
dramatically different approach than the one taken by former 
Police Chief Wahadat at the December conference where he 
painted a fantastic picture of security and stability in the 
Province, claiming no armed groups operated in Bamyan 
(reftel).  End Note) 
 
Conference Objectives Achieved 
------------------------------ 
 
¶8.  (SBU) While Governor Sarabi and Provincial Council 
Chairman Etamadi both publicly chided two Directors (Public 
Works and Rural Reconstruction and Development) for providing 
insufficient details in their presentations, on the whole 
Sarabi and the international assistance community were 
pleased with the preparation of the directors and their 
presentations.  As an added bonus, over the last month the 
directors have substantially strengthened their working 
relationships with their international assistance partners. 
These directors are now reaching out more frequently for 
information on all of the myriad activities occurring in 
their sectors and some have taken the next step and begun to 
monitor these activities more closely. 
 
Comment:  Slowly Building Capacity 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The Governor,s key goals for this development 
conference (public dissemination of government activities and 
goading less-active offices into action) were achieved. 
According to NGO officials present at both conferences, all 
of the sectors have come a long way since the last conference 
in responding to the concerns of the public.  A lot of work 
remains, however, especially in the area of strategic 
planning for the future.  Due to the lack of legal training 
and staff, the justice sector is probably one of the neediest 
sectors within the province.  To help address this weakness, 
the PRT would welcome a program such as the Provincial 
 
KABUL 00004436  003 OF 003 
 
 
Judicial Council (PJC), which could provide a welcome 
capacity boost to the few judicial officials in the province. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) We believe this regular conference is, and will 
continue to be, a very worthwhile endeavor.  We will be 
looking at ways to ensure there is a follow-up conference 
held in six months, time. 
NORLAND