Kabul Museum Our Remarkable Legacy

 

I was interviewed earlier today for my opinions on Kabul Museum. Reconstructing Kabul is also about preserving our ancient relics, artwork and artifacts. This is Afghanistan’s inheritance.

The Afghan Government should play a significant role in taking care of the museum.

I’ve been there several times recently to make assessments. The road leading to the museum will be rebuilt and the surrounding area will be populated with trees and flowers.

If the museum wants to be become top notch and grab the international community’s interest it needs well trained staff, brochures and programs.

Seminars and workshops for youth groups should stimulate curiosity in our remarkable legacy.

A journalist recently asked me what my number one priority is. I find it difficult to prioritize because everything in Kabul needs urgent attention. The museum, however, hosts priceless items that deserve renewed consideration.

Kabul Municipality’s strategic approach to enhancing the museum should hopefully put it back on the world map.

   

Eventually we would like to move the contents in the museum to Darulaman Palace once it has been renovated.

Why a Zoo?

A few days ago I posted some photos and comments on my Facebook page about the renovation of Kabul Zoo. The animals have clean and enlarged living quarters and they are on healthy diets.

Someone on my Facebook page asked why the animals are well fed while there are so many poor and hungry families in Kabul.

It’s all about trying to create and maintain a balance. 

The zoo is important in many ways. From a psychological viewpoint the zoo offers a peaceful environment for the public to relax in and to unwind.

From an educational viewpoint we can learn a lot from animals such as living in accordance with nature.

Children in Afghanistan need to learn how to be children again. The zoo offers them the opportunity to forget about their everyday difficulties. It is a small reality within a bigger reality. 

Poverty can’t be erased in one day. We will have to address this issue step by step.

I received an appreciation award from the Economic Cooperation Organization, Teheran in recognition of outstanding service delivery.

It was not only the roads we had been reconstructing or improving the lifestyle of over 5 million people in Kabul in a very short space of time that had captured this organization’s attention.

It was also my plan to upgrade Kabul Zoo which has them excited. (Read more about the zoo in my next post.)

I told Kabul Municipality staff that this recognition is proof that word about our good work is spreading across Afghanistan and spilling over our borders. Our hard work is paying off.

But I want to emphasize that what the international community values most is combating corruption successfully in Afghanistan.

Kabul Municipality has the public’s support. Let’s fight the corrupt individuals in the government who are tarnishing the image of our country. 

Academic Seminar II to Celebrate Anniversary of Kabul City

Academic Seminar II will be held late August 2011 to celebrate the anniversary of Kabul by focusing on its history, ancient values and identity.

Kabul Municipality would like to invite researchers, historians, scholars, authors and critics to participate in the seminar by submitting papers, articles, stories and critiques on:

The history of Kabul

The ancient walls of Shair-Darwaza and Asmahi

Kabul during the Kushan Empire

Kabul kings

Kabul in Firdousi’s literary epic, 
the Shahnameh  or ‘Book of Kings’

Kabul during Timur’s reign (also known as Tamerlane)

Kabul and the Silk Route

Kabul and Indian kings

Most recent archeological findings in Kabul

Ancient relics of Kabul

Kabul and tourist attractions

Kabul and King Babur

Kabul 100 years ago

Kabul architecture and threats to its existence  

Scholars’ view of civic standards in Kabul

Role of education in establishing civic standards in Kabul

Kabul’s nobility

Kabul depicted on coins

Folklore accounts of Kabul

Travel accounts of Kabul

Effects of migrations on Kabul

(Other topics will also be accepted.)

Artists, painters, calligraphers, musicians, and poets are also encouraged to participate in the seminar and should submit their work to the Academic Seminar II Committee by 22 August 2011.

Submissions and queries for further details can be sent to kabul Seminar af@KM.gov.af

Prizes will be awarded to work of outstanding quality.

Back to Cotton Socks and Porridge

Thinking in retrospect about my recent business trip to the States I’m jotting down the following points to remind me of my goals I would like to achieve to improve Kabul:

*Keep working on master development plan to improve informal housing situation

*Maintain contact with international community to help me rebuild Kabul

*Combat corruption at all times

*Work on waste recycling system

*Entice foreign investors to set up industries

This list is going to keep me busy. Got to go!

PS: Any suggestions?



Intellectuals Necessary Part of City’s Fiber

Since my appointment as Mayor of Kabul one and a half years ago, it has always been a priority for me to meet with an array of academics, economists and researchers.

Their opinions help me to form a better understanding of what the city lacks and how to create better service delivery for its citizens.

Deliberating with my learned friends has been stimulating, but I began to see a need for an established platform from which the cream of Kabul’s intellectuals could operate.

Kabul Municipality therefore held a meeting on 15 June 2011 to establish the Council of Experts.

These experts will identify growing tendencies and patterns in Kabul society. They will also flag problems in areas of the city of which we’ve been oblivious.

The continuous influx of people to Kabul worries me. Kabul is home to 5 million people of which 3.8 million poured into the city over the last 8 years. At the moment there is no way to control the population boom.

This is because villages in the provinces do not have adequate infrastructures or employment opportunities. The persistent drought is also forcing people to pull up the anchor to come to Kabul. Even returnee refugees prefer to stay here. “

Prof. Panjshiri, a lecturer at Kabul University, said the eyes of the world are constantly on Kabul.  He advised that if Kabul wants to become a reputable city, procedures need to be developed and put into place. It would be disastrous if returnee refugees continue to come to Kabul. The city will explode.

He continued by saying that the government has been unable to come up with solutions, and it was only Kabul Municipality that was paying attention to this issue.

I’ve also noticed that the public are not adhering to the Municipality’s building rules and regulations. People are putting up new buildings that are far too high.

The Head of Kabul Polytechnic University, Mr. Ezatullah Hamid, said he would help Kabul Municipality by sending Polytechnic engineers out in the field to educate the public in correct building procedures.

Corruption keeps on eroding our systems and is a huge obstacle to overcome while rebuilding Kabul. Asif Rahimi, Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock said he would help the Municipality to fight corruption. Transparency and accountability is still lacking.

Kabul’s needs lie close to my heart. By setting up this Council we have a working mechanism in place that will lead to a well managed city cherishing the rich past of old Kabul, yet striving to build an environmentally sound and technologically advanced future metropolis.  

The Council of Experts will meet again on 27 July 2011.

City Culture Catalyst for Ownership: Media and Mayor Parley

1 June 2011 Today I did not want to bore the media with statistics of how many kilometers of road have been reconstructed, or how many meters of sewage canals have been cleaned and upgraded.

My aim was to create a new awareness with the media of Kabul Municipality’s efforts to upgrade city culture, and to stimulate interest to inform the public to take ownership for their actions.

While we have been constructing a number of parks in Kabul, and installing solar powered lights along its roads, upgrading city culture has become a new project on our agenda.

With the city bursting at its seams, I requested the media’s active engagement to educate the public on urbanization and the problems it is creating.

A media official said that people are still throwing their rubbish out on the street and dig holes just where they want.

There is an agreement between Kabul Municipality and university lecturers to devote the first 5 minutes of their daily lectures to teach students how to improve their lifestyle.

One journalist pointed out that an improved city culture is just an ideal. As a committed mayor I am therefore asking the media, intellectuals and people on the street to tell us what kind of city you want. Your opinions will become the blue print for a specific plan of action.

At the end of the seminar, Mr. Khozhman Ulomi, Deputy Mayor for Service Delivery, announced a competition for media organizations to produce educational programs for upgrading Kabul’s city culture.

Watch my blog for further details.