FAIZABAD - Residents of the Pamir mountains in northeastern Badakhshan province complain about their poor livelihood situation and ask the government to respond to their problems.
On the other hand, some local officials say they are trying to shift residents of the Pamir mountainous area to Faizabad city, the provincial capital.
A number of residents of Pamir in Wakhan district complain that routes leading to their area are impassable particularly during winter and snowfalls.
They say they lack access to electricity, asphalted roads, clinics, schools, health facilities and other basic services in their area.
Irgan Bergi, a tribal elder of Pamir talking to Pajhwok Afghan News said that around 400 families or 2,000 people, all from Kirgiz ethnic group, live in the Pamir region.
He said the government paid little attention to the livelihood of people of the region despite living away from cities and lacking little access to basic services.
“There is only one clinic in the area that provides only basic services while people with serious health issues should travel to the provincial capital”, he said.
“Roads usually get blocked during winter and it becomes hard to transfer a patient, particularly pregnant women, to provincial hospitals, sometimes women lose their lives on the way,” he said.
Bergi accused the government of negligence and said they had no facilities and were tired of the situation. He said they wanted to shifted to the city.
Abdul Wahid, another resident of Pamir area, also complained about government’s negligence and said, “We have no road, school and ambulance, we have only one small clinic that should be improved, many women die during delivery every year, they lose lives on their way to hospital, our problems would be solved if the number of doctors is increased in our clinic.”
He also asked for government’s help to shift Pamir people from their area to the provincial capital.
However, Nik Mohammad Nazari, spokesman of Badakhshan governor, said that Pamir people were always paid attention by the government.
He said that actions had been taken for road construction in the area and the process was still under way.
People living in Pamir area also received winter aid that included food and other items worth 10 million afghanis this year, he added.
About shifting Pamir people to the city, he said: “The local administration is working on a mechanism to shift Pamir people to city based on their satisfaction.”
This comes as Ghulam Bahauddin Jailani, national disaster management minister, during his recent visit from Pamir said that he would share problems of the Pamir people with the central government to help shift them from the cold region to cities. (Pajhwok)