Residents of Kandahar city say they are forced to go from office to office at the Taliban municipality for months just to obtain permits to build their houses. They add that the lengthy administrative process and demands for bribes have created serious difficulties for construction in the province. According to them, they are sent around for months to complete administrative steps and must pay money to get their cases moving. The residents add that, instead of facilitating the process, the Taliban municipality has put numerous obstacles in the way of construction, forcing people to wait months for a single permit. At the same time, the lack of oversight of construction materials left on roads and in alleys has made it hard for residents to get around and has raised concerns about the safety of children and the quality of urban services in the city.
Last month, the Taliban municipality published a 10-step guide to obtaining a construction permit, titled “Amr-e Khishti” (literally, “Brick Order”). The guide gives brief explanations of each of the 10 steps.
However, Kandahar residents say that in practice, obtaining a construction permit involves lengthy delays, administrative obstacles, and numerous problems. According to them, the permit is valid for only three months, and if construction is not completed within that period, they must apply again to renew it, which makes the construction process even harder.
Haji Najibullah, a resident of Kandahar city, says he spent two months just going to the Taliban’s Directorate of Agriculture to obtain the directorate’s opinion as part of the process of getting a permit to build his house.
Najibullah says: “The Taliban at the municipality tell me the entire permit process takes one month, but I spent two months just getting the Directorate of Agriculture’s opinion. The transport costs alone came to 1,400 Afghanis. Now judge for yourselves: are these obstacles or assistance?”
Gul Mohammad (pseudonym), a resident of District 7 of Kandahar city, says that bribes are also demanded from people under various pretexts during the permit process. He stresses that he was referred to the Taliban’s Directorate of Agriculture to obtain an opinion on his land, but after three weeks, a Taliban official in that office wrote the opinion for him in exchange for a bribe of 14,000 Afghanis.
Gul Mohammad adds: “If I had not paid this money, they would have demanded a Sharia-based property deed covering 40 years for that same land. If you do not pay, not even one percent of your work moves forward.”
Other Kandahar residents express concern about how complicated the permit process is and say it has created even greater difficulties for people who are not sufficiently literate and are unfamiliar with administrative procedures.
Juma Gul, a resident of District 9 of Kandahar city, says that although he is somewhat literate and familiar with administrative matters, the permit process has worn him out so much that he now regrets having started it.
Juma Gul says: “I am reasonably literate and at least know the names of the offices, yet I am still exhausted from trying to get a construction permit. What will those who are not sufficiently literate do? How can anyone get a construction permit within a month when every step is full of obstacles?”
Juma Gul adds that some Taliban officials at the Kandahar municipality get people’s work done through intermediaries in exchange for money. According to him, instead of receiving assistance, people in this sector face high costs and long administrative procedures.
Kandahar residents accuse the Taliban municipality of creating administrative obstacles, taking bribes, and showing indifference. They say they must wait several weeks even to obtain the signature of a local Taliban official.
Amin, another resident of Kandahar city, says he has been trying to obtain a construction permit for three months now, but has so far completed only five administrative steps.
Amin adds: “The municipality should carry out all the steps in one place. In three months, my case has only just reached the fifth step. They wore me out so much that I have now handed the documents for the remaining steps to my brother to complete. He has also been waiting for three weeks for the signature of one of the directors. One day they say Mullah Sahib is in a meeting, another day they say he has gone out on a site visit, and sometimes they come up with some other excuse. This is a real runaround: no work moves forward, and no service is provided.”
These complaints follow an official letter that the Taliban’s Office of the Prime Minister issued last year, which set specific conditions for starting construction work in the country’s major cities, including Kandahar.
Construction materials left in alleys and on roads
In addition to the problems of obtaining construction permits, Kandahar residents also complain about construction materials being left on roads and in alleys. According to them, bricks, rebar, girders, cement, sand, and other building materials placed on public routes have made it hard for people to get around and have put children at risk.
Abdul Sabur, a resident of District 7 of Kandahar city, says that with the rise in construction activity, many people have left their building materials on roads and in alleys, and this has created numerous problems for residents.
Abdul Sabur adds: “In the city, many people have left their construction materials on roads and in alleys. It has become hard for us to get around, our children are at risk, and the roads are being blocked. Those in charge of construction work care only about their own projects and show no regard for their neighbors’ lives.”
Alongside the improper placement of construction materials, a number of city residents also accuse the drivers of trucks carrying these materials of causing traffic problems through carelessness. According to them, these drivers sometimes travel at high speed on narrow roads and alleys and do not take care to keep the passage clear while unloading construction materials.
Kandahar residents are complaining about problems related to construction and urban services at a time when the return of migrants to the country and the settlement of people from remote areas in major cities have increased the need for housing and urban services.
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) has also expressed concern about the spread of informal settlements in Afghanistan. According to UN-Habitat’s assessments, providing urban services in these areas faces difficulties, and the lack of sufficient investment is one of the major obstacles to developing urban facilities and services in the cities of Afghanistan.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
کاغذپرانی و ایجاد موانع؛ باشندهگان قندهار میگویند شهرداری طالبان بدون رشوه کار نمیکند
