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$4.5 Million For A $55 Million Problem

Posted by: Nate Berg

13 March 2007 - 6:00am

As thousands flock to the city to escape other wartorn regions, the infrastructure in Kabul is struggling to serve the Afghan capital's 3.4 million people. Funding for the city's services falls way short.

"Kabul is home to 3.4 million people but has no public sewage system. Piped city water reaches only 18 percent of people. Daily power cuts last from dawn until 4 p.m. in the winter – longer in the summer."

"Once renowned for green gardens and quirky bazaars, Kabul is sinking under the weight of its own citizens. More than a million migrants have flooded into the capital city since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, seeking a job and a better life in the big city."

"In all, the population of Kabul has nearly doubled in seven years, straining a metropolis still riddled by the bullet holes and bombed-out roofs of many years of civil war."

"Larger than the next 10 largest Afghan cities combined, Kabul estimates its most basic needs require $55 million this year; its budget is $4.5 million."

Full Story: Kabul copes with lots of people, little water
Source: The Christian Science Monitor, March 13, 2007
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