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After starting – and finishing – many reconstruction projects around the city, Kabul Mayor, Engineer Mohammad Yonous Nawandish, emphasises he is committed to giving the city a new look.
During the past eight years, Kabulis repeatedly criticized previous mayors for corruption and inefficiency. But that has changed under Mayor Nawandish.
City residents now have reason to hope the new mayor will be more effective and honest. That is because they have already seen new street paving and other changes in the short time Mayor Nawandish has been in office.
In addition, the city is collecting millions of afghanis in legal taxes which, if applied to city services, have the potential to make the city self-sufficient.
In a late July interview with Sada-e Azadi, the mayor said he is busy designing a plan to develop and beautify the city. It is called the Kabul Solidarity Programme.
While he believes it is too early to announce details of the plan, he said he is already working on finding financing for some of the projects in the plan.
In general, the mayor said he is planning to pave more streets, build public parks and install street lights. The plan also calls for building more drainage canals and street overpasses (flyovers), along with relocating unsightly makeshift fuel stations and other measures to make the city more clean and attractive, Mayor Nawandish explained.
“Bagrami, Kabul International Airport and Jaddah streets are already paved,” said the mayor. “Kampani, Ahmad Shah Mina, Darulaman, Qargha, Bagh-e Qazi, Asmahi and some other streets in Khair Khana are in the paving and repaving process.”
While there has been a lot of disappointment with the city’s leadership in the past, the new mayor prefers to look at the future.
“I don’t want to comment on other mayors,” he said. “What I want to do is to attract international donors’ interest and implement the most-ever projects.”
Recently, the Kabul Municipality bought 1,800 shipping containers and 30 garbage trucks. The mayor said the new equipment has helped his department a lot in carrying tonnes of garbage out of the city each day.
And it is fortunate that all of this is going on, because President Karzai’s Cabinet ministers have declared that the city must improve. They have ordered the municipality to both clean up the city and for security services to make the city safer.
One of the big changes is that the Kabul Municipality has already pledged to remove 360 of the makeshift fuel stations out of the city, the mayor said.
Many mayors in the past complained about the unplanned, illegal construction around the city. Very little action was taken to change that, however.
Mayor Nawandish said he wants to see new skyscrapers (tall buildings) that will give the city an attractive, modern look. However, he believes they should be done according to the Kabul Municipality’s plan for development.
“Anybody who wants to build tall buildings should come to the municipality and we will support them,” he said.
Like some other government agencies, the Kabul Municipality was weak and ineffective because of corruption. The situation was so bad that the previous mayor and his deputy were arrested by Afghan authorities.
They were among a long line of city leaders who did not stay in office longer than a year.
But Mayor Nawandish said one of his biggest priorities is fighting against corruption.
“I’m committed to capacity building,” he said. “I’m fully against corruption and I’ll fight against it.”
He understands that the city cannot properly function and provide services to Kabulis if it is not run honestly and efficiently.
During the past eight years, Kabulis repeatedly criticized previous mayors for corruption and inefficiency. But that has changed under Mayor Nawandish.
City residents now have reason to hope the new mayor will be more effective and honest. That is because they have already seen new street paving and other changes in the short time Mayor Nawandish has been in office.
In addition, the city is collecting millions of afghanis in legal taxes which, if applied to city services, have the potential to make the city self-sufficient.
In a late July interview with Sada-e Azadi, the mayor said he is busy designing a plan to develop and beautify the city. It is called the Kabul Solidarity Programme.
While he believes it is too early to announce details of the plan, he said he is already working on finding financing for some of the projects in the plan.
In general, the mayor said he is planning to pave more streets, build public parks and install street lights. The plan also calls for building more drainage canals and street overpasses (flyovers), along with relocating unsightly makeshift fuel stations and other measures to make the city more clean and attractive, Mayor Nawandish explained.
“Bagrami, Kabul International Airport and Jaddah streets are already paved,” said the mayor. “Kampani, Ahmad Shah Mina, Darulaman, Qargha, Bagh-e Qazi, Asmahi and some other streets in Khair Khana are in the paving and repaving process.”
While there has been a lot of disappointment with the city’s leadership in the past, the new mayor prefers to look at the future.
“I don’t want to comment on other mayors,” he said. “What I want to do is to attract international donors’ interest and implement the most-ever projects.”
Recently, the Kabul Municipality bought 1,800 shipping containers and 30 garbage trucks. The mayor said the new equipment has helped his department a lot in carrying tonnes of garbage out of the city each day.
And it is fortunate that all of this is going on, because President Karzai’s Cabinet ministers have declared that the city must improve. They have ordered the municipality to both clean up the city and for security services to make the city safer.
One of the big changes is that the Kabul Municipality has already pledged to remove 360 of the makeshift fuel stations out of the city, the mayor said.
Many mayors in the past complained about the unplanned, illegal construction around the city. Very little action was taken to change that, however.
Mayor Nawandish said he wants to see new skyscrapers (tall buildings) that will give the city an attractive, modern look. However, he believes they should be done according to the Kabul Municipality’s plan for development.
“Anybody who wants to build tall buildings should come to the municipality and we will support them,” he said.
Like some other government agencies, the Kabul Municipality was weak and ineffective because of corruption. The situation was so bad that the previous mayor and his deputy were arrested by Afghan authorities.
They were among a long line of city leaders who did not stay in office longer than a year.
But Mayor Nawandish said one of his biggest priorities is fighting against corruption.
“I’m committed to capacity building,” he said. “I’m fully against corruption and I’ll fight against it.”
He understands that the city cannot properly function and provide services to Kabulis if it is not run honestly and efficiently.
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