Urban Development Ministry Focuses on Reconstruction, IDP Resettlement

In its annual reporting meeting, the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing criticized the lack of attention to urban standards during the past and announced that plans are underway to standardize cities across the country.

According to officials, the first phase of the Qatar project in Kabul has been completed, the Nila Bagh project has progressed by 35%, the second block of housing provision is 80% complete, and work on the New Kabul project is ongoing.

Madar Ali Karimi Bamiani, Deputy Minister of Urban Affairs at the Ministry, said: “God willing, we are practically and technically overcoming many urban challenges.”

Mohammad Kamal Afghan, spokesperson for the ministry, added: “We have started work on a township for 400 needy families in Helmand. Additionally, 108 homes called ‘shelters’ are being built in Farah, and 100 houses in Paktia are being constructed with the help of a charity. In the Khushhal Khan area, as part of the Qatar project, homes for 800 families are being built. We are also allocating plots of land for returnees.”

The acting minister of urban development also criticized the indiscriminate expulsion of Afghan migrants by neighboring countries and said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has managed to prevent a major humanitarian crisis to a large extent.

Najibullah Haqqani emphasized that to address the problems of returning migrants, construction of 35 townships in 25 provinces has begun, and land is being distributed to over 87,000 families.

Najibullah Hayat Haqqani, the acting minister, also said: “As soon as we began making some progress, they used it as a tool of pressure and increased the expulsion of migrants, that too in an inhumane way. We wish they would deport migrants humanely. Our request is for humanitarian and Islamic principles to be respected.”

Mohammad Arsalan Kharoti, Deputy Minister of Finance and Administration at the ministry, said: “In the past year, 35 new townships have been constructed in 25 provinces for migrants to provide permanent housing, some of which are already operational.”

Additionally, the ministry reported it has halted 3,800 unauthorized constructions in the city and has designed plans for 300 buildings.