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| Afghanistan |
| 300,000 Acres Of Land Grabbed Illegally: Nangarhar Officials |
| 2015-11-30 |
| [Tolo News] A number of Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. provincial council members along with residents on Sunday expressed their concerns over the rampant land-grabbing practice currently being witnessed in the province. They say that numerous influential people in the province are usurping privately-owned and government property -- including mosques and public parks. However the mayor of Jalalabad rejected claims that mosques and public picnic areas have been seized. The mayor, Hamidullah Afghan, said: "This area is 23 meters in length including 13 meters which is related to public park. The area is under construction. A greenery area will be built in front of the park which is part of the contract and there is no grounds for grabbing the lands." According to local officials, more than 300,000 acres of land has been grabbed illegally in the province over the past few years. One resident of Jalalabad, Jamila, claims that influential people have illegally seized four acres of her land. She has appealed to the authorities to ensure those guilty are brought to book. She said: "I have at least two acres of land but this man wants to grab it because he is powerful. It is six months that I am working with the Attorney General Office [AGO]. I have a letter from Nangarhar provincial council which has mentioned that the man has grabbed my land but the AGO is giving me the run around and every time they tell me to come back another day." However she is not the only Nangarhar resident who has fallen victim to this problem. Residents say it is a common occurrence throughout the province. "This area was once a public park and people used it for different purposes including sports but now it has been grabbed and I have no idea whether they have the permission of the municipality or not," a resident of Nangarhar said. A number of provincial council members have also expressed their concerns over this issue. One member Zabihullah Zemarai said: "Lots of properties have been grabbed or are on the verge of being grabbed. The former president [Hamid Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtunface on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... ], the current president [Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. ] and the Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... have not taken any steps in this regard and I think they do not have any will to do so." Another provincial council member, Suhrab Qaderi said: "They build houses or shops where there are green areas. This is illegal and it should not be done." |
| Posted by:Fred |