Samangan coalmines revenue dips

AIBAK (Pajhwok): The prolonged electoral crisis has led to an unprecedented decline in revenue from coalmines in the Dara-i-Suaf district of northern Samangan province, an official said on Wednesday.

Mohammad Kabir Mukaram, director civil services, told Pajhwok Afghan News the continued election wrangling had a negative impact on the coal mining process in Samangan as it has rendered more than 2,000 employees jobless.

With the vote invalidation process progressing, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah’s team has boycotted the process and has warned not to accept the final results if their demands were not met.

The long-drawn-out election process has affected the country’s overall economy. Finance Minister Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal has briefed the two candidates about the damage the economy suffered due to differences between them.

According to the coalmine entrepreneur, the revenue from the two mines in Dar-i-Suaf district was 404 million afghanis in April and May, but the figures declined to 352 million afghanis during the past two months, thanks to the protracted polls crisis.

Ahmad Ali Hussaini, the district administrative chief, said the coal extracted from the nines in Dar-i-Sauf was supplied to brick kilns and steel mills and some exported to Pakistan.

The electoral crisis and political impasse has affected the economic growth.

Naik Mohammad, 29, a coal seller, said the number of buyers had decreased due to the uncertain political situation in the country.

President Karzai on Tuesday appealed the two candidates to end their dispute and save Afghanistan from further violence and economic decline.

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