Business Hurt by Anti-Pollution Drive in North Afghan City

The authorities in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif are running a major campaign to cut pollution, but factory owners and truck drivers forced out of the city as part of the clean-up say their businesses are suffering.

Officials in Mazar-e Sharif claim to have reduced pollution by 70 per cent by forcing brick kilns and other factories to relocate out of the centre, planting trees, limiting access for vehicles, and impounding older, high-emissions cars.

They have also installed public bins, and dug wells to irrigate the city’s green areas, in what they say is a model for reducing pollution levels nationwide.

Abdol Wahab drives an aging, Soviet-made Moskvich taxi, and has been hard hit by the ban on entering the city during the daytime.

“The traffic police... say our vehicles emit too high exhaust fumes,” he said. “I am fed up with this work but I don’t have other options. Mazar is a city for wealthy people who have luxury cars. There’s no room for poor people here.”

To get round the ban and earn enough to support a household of ten people, Abdol Wahab continues to slip into Mazar-e Sharif along alleyways and side streets.

Some of those affected told IWPR that the measures were tainted by corruption.

Mohammad Ibrahim, a confectionary factory owner, said police demanded money in exchange for allowing him to keep his business going in the city.

“We couldn’t pay bribes every day so we had to move out,” he said.

Relocating the factory outside Mazar-e Sharif has made it harder to transport ingredients and finished products, and for staff to get to work, he said.

Traffic police have banned trucks from entering Mazar-e Sharif during daylight, so when IWPR interviewed driver Feda Mohammad, he was sitting in his goods vehicle outside the city waiting for night to fall.

He claimed that drivers were still allowed into the city in the daytime, if they paid an illicit fee.

“How long are we going to have to pay bribes to drive... inside the city?” he asked. “No one listens to us and there’s no point speaking about the problem.”

Traffic police deny taking kickbacks while enforcing the war on pollution.

Mohammad Ajan, director of Balkh provincial traffic police department, said drivers were spreading false rumours because they were unhappy with the new rules. In reality, he said, enforcement was being monitored rigorously.

Not everyone is opposed to the clean-up.

Brick kiln owner Mohammad Sadeq said the relocation plans initially caused arguments between businessmen and police, but these had been resolved.

“I’m happy with the decision because it has been implemented equitably,” he said.

For their part, provincial officials say they are proud of the progress made in one of Afghanistan’s more picturesque cities.

“This programme has been effective,” said Ziaulhaq Atai, a senior environmental official. “We have also started programmes to collect rubbish house to house, and have installed rubbish bins.”

Dr Basir, head of the sanitation department at the provincial health department, said his agency had provided clean drinking water, as well as burying and burning waste.

“We have made great progress in the area of sanitation,” he said.

City resident Saleh Mohammad said he was happy the roads had been asphalted, which reduced dust and smog.

“Now we have a chance to breathe clean air,” he said.

Ahmad Ramin Delasa is a freelance reporter in Balkh province.