Communities Support Government to Improve State Building – Story From Herat
Afghanistan has been suffering three decades of war and internal conflicts which destroyed the country’s infrastructure and seriously harmed government’s managerial capacities.
This situation has seriously precluded Government from providing total coverage to improved basic services, which has, in turn, weakened people’s trust in Government in certain areas.
Mr. Hayatullah Sakhi works as “Social Organizer” with Municipal Governance Support Programme in Herat province. He tell us how he managed the conflict he has faced at District 6th in Herat city.
When Mr. Hayatullah was distributing the announcement notice at District 6th , he went to one house, knocked the door and waited for the owner of the house to open. Suddenly, an old man opened the door and said with an aggressive tone: “Is the Government hungry again, what do you want from us? You Government employees’ do corruption with electricity and water bills and even taking the mobile to top up the card as bribe either you don’t deliver any services. We pay for waste collection, so why are you asking for Safayi fees? Look at our street, how dirty it is!” The gentleman screamed a lot, and Mr. Hayatullah heard him attentively until he carried out everything from his heart.
Once he stopped talking, Mr. Hayatullah introduced himself to him; and gently offered to talk and to get know each other better, but the gentleman refused. Once again, Mr Hayatullah requested him in a polite manner. He eventually agreed and asked “what do you want from us?”
Our surveyor directly asked: “do you want the Government to stand on its own feet? Or either you prefer to rely on other countries?” He replied: “yes, I want this country to be self-sufficient, and I don’t want this country to beg for anything at any time.”
Having established a point of contact Mr Hayatullah replied: “Isn’t it better if all people pay their Safayi fees and the Government should spend the Safayi tax for certain Nahias?” The gentleman happily responded affirmatively. He said it would be great if the collected amount is spent in our own Nahia.
Mr Hayatullah explained how the “Municipal Governance Support Programme (MGSP)” and the government is committed to launching a national programme to survey and register all properties within its municipal boundaries aimed to stimulate municipal revenues to deliver proper services.
The gentleman agreed to register his property without any doubt or hesitation further promising to cooperate with UN- Habitat staff during the project implementation.