I don’t want to give the impression that it is all jokes and gaffs out here. The following article by Robert Baer is an interesting read: A talk with a Suicide Bomber .
So why go to all the risk and trouble? --- Well, as I previously hinted, on the day that we were ‘attacked’ , we were looking for sites for a new landfill for Jalalabad. Something that the folks here need very badly.
Jalalabad, has between 650,000 and 1,000,000 residents. With uncommonly brisk population growth. The city produces about 600 cubic meters of solid waste a day, of which only 10%, at most, makes it to one of the city's three dump sites. The three dump-sites are nestled in amongst a number of shanties that are along the edge of the Kabul River. The remaining 90% is deposited in place in the city; The city itself is the landfill. To make matters worse, there is no sanitary sewage system here. And the majority of the city's biomedical waste is included in the mess. Drinking water for these people comes from only two sources: the city's wells and the river.
The solid waste situation here is the absolute worst case scenario.
Thankfully, the city's leaders consider the matter a priority and are helping to lead the way to a solution.
Posted by paul at August 30, 2007 11:52 AM