VZCZCXRO7925
RR RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #0904/01 1021043
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121043Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8337
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000904 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO AID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
USFOR-A FOR POLAD 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL AF
SUBJECT: Paktikas Bermel District: Governance and Development 
Challenges Continue 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  Bermel district is home to most of AfghanistanQs 
Waziri tribesmen, who remain closely connected with the Waziri tribes 
across the border in PakistanQs North and South Waziristan tribal 
agencies.  Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Paktika found 
questionable distribution of USAID and World Food Program (WFP) 
humanitarian assistance.  The district government remains unable to 
provide adequate educational and health services, although the district 
administratorQs engagement with tribes has improved security in and 
around the district bazaar.  Security permitting, increased focus on 
roads, irrigation, and agricultural training could help orient BermelQs 
population toward the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 
(GIRoA) and increase positive cross-border interaction.  End summary. 
 
Questionable Distribution of 
Humanitarian Assistance 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The PRT Paktika (Sharana) command team visited Bermel 
district, on PaktikaQs border with Pakistan, March 21-25 to meet with 
District Administrator Mobin and assess recent developments in 
security, governance, and development.  Upon arriving at the Bermel 
district center on March 21, PRT members noticed bags of USAID-labeled 
wheat being removed from the district center by Afghan National Police 
(ANP) pick-up truck and more stocks of this wheat stored in a shed and 
storage building.  Questioned at the site, the local representative of 
the Ministry for Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) explained 
that the wheat had been provided under the WFP Food-For-Work (FFW) 
program.  When pressed, he said the wheat was being distributed evenly 
among all the Bermel tribes (Waziri sub-tribes) in order to prevent 
discord, rather than to Bermel residents who had cleaned irrigation 
ditches (karezes) as is intended under the FFW program.  The Saifali 
tribe members who earned the wheat agreed to this arrangement in a 
shura organized by the district administrator, he said. 
 
¶3.  (U) Additionally, the MRRD representative said USAID winterization 
kits had not been given to the districtQs neediest families, but 
instead had been taken apart.  At the district administratorQs 
direction, some of the food, jackets, blankets, and other items from 
the kits had been distributed and others remained stored at the 
district center.  (Note: The winterization kit program was a joint 
USAID-GIRoA effort that not only provided much needed humanitarian 
assistance to inaccessible districts in the south and east, but was 
also meant to strengthen the capacity and increase the legitimacy of 
the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD). USAID was 
responsible for procuring 14,000 kits, and MRRD was responsible for the 
delivery and distribution of these kits throughout Afghanistan.) 
 
¶4.  (SBU) District Administrator Mobin told a different story, saying 
no karezes had been cleaned in Bermel in exchange for wheat under the 
FFW program.  He said the Saifali elders did not know they were 
supposed to clean karezes, and the district government was unaware of 
the program so did not take any measures to confirm work was done.  For 
this reason, when the wheat arrived, the Saifali agreed that the wheat 
should be evenly distributed to all tribes.  Regarding the 
winterization kits, Mobin said it was necessary to break up the kits 
and distribute the items widely because of lack of governance in order 
to avoid tensions.  Mobin maintained Qjust some blanketsQ were left at 
the district center. 
 
MobinQs IVP: Missed Opportunity 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) When questioned why Mobin missed his International Visitors 
Program scheduled for the previous month, he blamed the local maneuver 
unitQs failure to transport him to the provincial capital Sharana for 
onward travel to Kabul.  When pressed further as to why he did not seek 
assistance from other USG elements, Mobin became evasive, but asked 
that the trip be rescheduled.  State PRT Officer responded that the 
Embassy was disappointed that the opportunity had been lost and 
resources had been expended for naught, and that given the 
circumstances, the trip could not be rescheduled.  (Comment: Although 
the PRT cannot confirm the allegation, a local contact reported that 
Mobin did not want to forego three weeks of illegal fees he collects 
from trucks carrying timber from Pakistan into Bermel.  End comment.) 
 
Schools and Health Services Inadequate; 
More Human Resources Needed 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Asked about provision of government services in Bermel, Mobin 
said only three of 27 schools are functioning.  Four had been open 
before the decapitation of the district education director last 
September.  Mobin did not know if textbooks had been delivered for the 
functioning schools.  He said one clinic run by the Swedish Committee 
for Afghanistan (SCA) is open in the bazaar.  Aside from this, the only 
health facility in the district is a private clinic near the district 
center that has no doctor.  [Note: SCAQs contract for clinics in 
Paktika has been taken over by International Medical Corps.  End note.] 
 Mobin said the MRRD representative on detail from another district and 
a new education director he described as Qcompletely crazyQ are the 
only line ministry representatives from Bermel.  Mobin said he needs 
National Directorate for Security (NDS), agriculture, tribal and border 
affairs, and other government representatives to provide services to 
the people.  Mobin listed paved roads, a hospital, dams, and cell phone 
coverage as the greatest needs of the people. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Shuffling and holding up apparently unrelated papers from his 
desk, Mobin talked at length about his initiative to understand and 
engage with the people of Bermel at the smallest sub-tribe level.  He 
said it was necessary for GIRoA to engage at this level so as to 
address the problems of the people and arrest troublemakers.  [Comment: 
Mobin has taken a proactive and apparently effective approach to tribal 
engagement.  During an October 2008 visit to Bermel, locals complained 
about insecurity in and around the district bazaar, and Mobin called in 
the Malakshay sub-tribal elders to address the problem. He also called 
in QsuspiciousQ young men and asked their male relatives to guarantee 
their good behavior by placing their thumbprints on documents he keeps 
in his desk drawer.  During the March visit, locals said security had 
improved around the bazaar as a result.  End comment.] 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Strategically, Bermel is one of PaktikaQs most important 
districts.  Owing to isolation, security and economic challenges, as 
well tribal affiliation, its Waziri population is in some respects more 
closely connected with its kinsmen in North and South Waziristan than 
with Afghanistan, and is likewise vulnerable to Taliban influence and 
intimidation emanating from those tribal agencies.  Insecurity and 
difficulty of access are the main obstacles to developmental progress. 
If these factors improve, Bermel has strong potential for greater 
economic development and legal cross-border activities.  Water 
projects, agricultural education, and improved agricultural inputs 
could improve the productivity of BermelQs main sources of income, 
fruit tree orchards and livestock farming; and timber management could 
help preserve and sustain its forest resources.  More functioning 
health and education facilities and improved economic conditions would 
encourage more residents to remain in Afghanistan for these services, 
and to view GIRoA as a reliable source of support.  A paved road that 
will eventually connect Bermel to Orgun district via Sarobi district 
will contribute to improvement in all these areas; work on the road (an 
Army Corps of Engineers project) could begin this year.  Thoughtful 
GIRoA engagement with the Waziri tribes, supported by the PRT and 
Coalition Forces as appropriate, will be essential to these efforts. 
 
¶9.  PRT Sharana Commander, Maneuver Battalion commander and the DOS 
Regional Advisor for Task Force Yukon have reviewed this cable. 
 
RICCIARDONE