VZCZCXRO2257
RR RUEHIK RUEHPOD RUEHPW RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #0623/01 0720526
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 120526Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3209
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000623 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/FO DAS CAMP, SCA/A 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR JWOOD 
OSD FOR SHIVERS 
CENTCOM FOR CG CSTC-A, CG CJTF-82 POLAD 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MCAP MOPS PREL PGOV PTER PHUM AF
SUBJECT: PANJSHIR GOVERNOR OUT ON THE HUSTINGS 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  Panjshir Governor Bahlul visited Panjshir's 
districts to hear directly from citizens in an open "town meeting" 
format.  These sessions are examples of accountability in governance 
and reveal grass-roots concerns. 
 
DISTRICT-BY-DISTRICT "TOWN MEETINGS" 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) In late 2007 Governor Haji Bahlul Bahij discussed the idea 
of holding a "state of the province" meeting.  To this end, the 
Governor decided on a series of town meetings, timed to coincide 
with the end of the Afghan solar year (March 20), to be followed up 
by a general session perhaps in the form of an augmented Provincial 
Development Council meeting. 
 
¶3. (U) At venues across the province, the meetings drew 
standing-room-only crowds for sessions, which typically lasted 4-5 
hours each.  On each occasion, the Governor began with a 
straightforward declaration of what has been accomplished and what 
is planned, and then opened the floor to comments from participants. 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) At each meeting the Governor was flanked by the newly 
elected Chairman of the Provincial Council (PC).  This closeness 
provides hope for a better working relationship than has been the 
case with the previous PC chairman.  Following his remarks, the 
Governor turned the podium to the district manager to provide a 
summary of completed and ongoing projects.  Key line directors (e.g. 
Rural Rehabilitation and Development, Economy, Agriculture, and 
Education) gave similar summaries.  Line directors received the 
toughest questions from the participants. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Attendees generally thanked the PRT for its work, although 
attendees were quick to raise projects that the PRT had either not 
agreed to or had not considered.  These were often small or located 
in extremely remote parts of the province.  Another common question 
concerned the PRT's contracting methodology, which required that the 
PRT defend its "best-value decision matrix" for selecting 
contractors. 
 
COMMON THEMES 
------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Agriculture:  This is a weak line directorate in Panjshir. 
(The previous line director fled the province under suspicion of 
embezzlement and is in hiding.)  The Ministry of Agriculture has not 
yet named a replacement, and the deputy line director was often 
overwhelmed in the face of complaints from the audiences.  The 
Governor repeatedly shifted the blame to Kabul for not yet finding a 
replacement.  The Minister himself, according to Governor Bahlul, is 
an "American businessman" more interested in his business interests 
than agriculture in Afghanistan. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Economy:  The economic line director, who comes closer than 
any other Panjshir official to filling the role of overall planning 
coordinator, would then brief on both economic priorities and the 
"Good Performer" funds for Panjshir.  In this vein, the Governor 
reiterated his displeasure that the good-performer money has been 
stuck in Kabul.  He also described how he and other governors made a 
successful plea at the highest levels in Kabul to prevent the entire 
counter-narcotics budget from going solely to poppy-growing 
provinces.  Whether true or not, the implication left with the 
audience was that the "good performers" had to fight to get their 
reward. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Education:  The line director for education provided 
information about schools built and schools under construction, as 
well as curricula, teacher shortages, teacher training, and NGO 
contributions in kind (food, furniture, computers).  Several asked 
about the inability to attract enough trained teachers.  The line 
director acknowledged this reality, saying it was true all over 
Afghanistan.  Religious leaders made standard appeals for more 
madrassas in Panjshir - which drew polite if unenthusiastic support 
from the audience. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Health:  The generally competent line director for the 
Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) was taken to task by many citizens. 
 Complaints focused on poor staffing, as well as the physical 
 
KABUL 00000623  002 OF 002 
 
 
condition and open hours of health care resources. Others complained 
that an Italian NGO involved in providing medical services was 
insensitive to local concerns regarding the treatment of women.  The 
Governor issued a sharp warning in response, telling his listeners 
that the NGO "knows what they're doing.  And if we try to stop them 
from doing their duties they will stop the service and run the 
hospital somewhere else."  Panjshir will likely continue for some 
time with a hybrid public-health facility arrangement, with some of 
its clinics (24 in total) run by the MoPH while the Italian NGO 
"Emergency" runs others. 
 
¶10. (U) Immigration and Returnees:  The line director said that 
6,700 people who left Panjshir have returned.  Noting that Panjshir 
has "more mountains than land," he has requested other provinces to 
help with Panjshiri returnees.  There are 3,000 plots of land in 
Parwan province and 2,000 plots in Kapisa province that are 
available to Panjshir returnees.  For next year, Baghlan (3,000 
plots), Balkh (2,000 plots), Kunduz (2,000 plots) and Herat (2,000 
plots) will also accept applications. 
 
¶11. (SBU) MRRD: This line director faced a tough task as he 
attempted to explain both what projects have been undertaken by the 
National Solidarity Program and the GIRoA, and why it takes so long 
for their completion.  Unfortunately, his explanations tended to fly 
over the heads of his listeners.  He also took criticism from fellow 
line directors, such as the Education line director who criticized 
the slow pace of school construction overseen by MRRD. 
 
PROBLEMS WITH HASHISH AND FRUSTRATIONS WITH KABUL 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶12. (SBU) In one of the recent meetings, the Governor offered up his 
diagnosis of the three threats facing the extension of governance: 
terrorism, narcotics, and corruption.  The view from Panjshir is 
that these three factors are largely absent in the province.  The 
recent town-meetings did offer an occasional myth-puncturing 
episode.  Particularly in Khenj district when the discussion turned 
to hashish cultivation, with at least one participant asserting that 
hashish accounts for up to fifty percent of the district's 
agricultural output.  (The PRT believes this figure is greatly 
exaggerated.)  Others called for the eradication of hashish fields, 
but the Khenj district chief of police said his men would not do so 
for fear of being shot by landowners. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Throughout his meetings the governor expressed his 
frustration at the lack of control over the quality and quantity of 
Kabul's interaction with the province.  He complained about the 
unqualified administrators sent to Panjshir by the central 
authorities.  Although he might prefer, as any provincial governor 
would, to control these appointments himself, he has urged for 
greater responsiveness on the part of the Kabul ministries.  His 
sway with the ministries is less than he would wish, and he has been 
unsuccessful at persuading ministers to visit.  In the past year, 
only Education Minister Atmar has traveled to Panjshir.  This may, 
in part, be that unlike other governors Bahlul rarely leaves 
Panjshir for Kabul (he asserts that he is too poor to travel often 
and cannot spend time in the capital waiting in lobbies for 
appointments with ministers).  Regardless of the reason his lack of 
interaction with the central government likely contributes to 
Panjshir's perceived lack of attention from Kabul. 
 
WOOD