|
Kajaki: Taliban fighters in Afghanistan are opposing operations at the old American-built Kajaki Dam in Helmand province - as they do with any project carried out by international aid workers like schools or clinics, because locals might turn toward the government, say Western officials. Militants also are likely trying to protect their lucrative drug trade in the area around Kajaki.
In case of the dam this is grim because it has the potential to provide Afghanistan with six per cent of its power needed. But outside the line roam enough Taliban fighters to prevent Washington's largest single aid project in Afghanistan from ever reaching that goal.
The Kajaki Dam, built in the 1950s to help Afghan farmers irrigate their fields, is in Helmand province in southwest Afghanistan, which grows more opium poppies than any place in the world. And, thanks to an influx of Taliban fighters the last two years, it is one of the most dangerous regions in the country.
A small building at the base of the dam houses one working Westinghouse turbine, one of two the US installed in the 1970s. The second turbine is dismantled for repairs. In between those is a large hole where the US hopes to install a third turbine. Even a small boost in output would be meaningful in a nation where only six per cent of the people has electricity.
But because of the swarms of Taliban fighters who control the region, the US has been forced to push back the planned delivery date of needed parts - now set for mid-2009.
Major Mike Shervington, who commands 200 British paratroopers at the dam, says he's still not sure when the parts can be safely delivered.
"These guys are pretty determined, pretty professional," Shervington said of the militants who surround the dam.
"Because it provides such a source of energy, the vast majority of Afghan people want this to succeed. It powers farm machinery, allows people to feed their family," he said.
The province's governor, Gulab Mangal, said the dam provides Afghans in Helmand and Kandahar with a few, vital hours of electricity a day.
"It's helping agriculture and business," Mangal said. "We are planning to make the security plans to take the third turbine to Kajaki."
|
