Interviews
Amazing craving for revival
03 Oct '06
2 min read
A few of the old Russian cotton looms are still working, churning away in one corner of a building, an astonishing symbol of hope in the desert outside Kandhaar.
The factory is dormant, not operating, but kept alive by a devoted staff although he hasn't been paid for the past one year.
In 1979the rampaging mobs forced to flee the German and Russian engineers who installed the machines and the construction of the factory was never finished.
Production halted completely in the 1990s as rival warlords and then Taliban militias seized control of the facility, using its watchtowers as sniper posts.
In the darkest days of Afghanistan's civil wars, the elders who controlled the district had declared that the textile mill belonged to the country's future and must not be destroyed and the millions of dollars worth of equipment somehow remained almost untouched and undamaged.
Everybody knew the country needed the machines in the later years although that hopeful future hasn't yet arrived.
Wholly owned by the Afghan government, the factory made an attempt to resume business in early 2002.
The mill has since produced 350 tones of cotton fabric but sold only 150 tones and the rest lies in a warehouse, awaiting the salesmanship efforts.
The director admitted that a sale isn't his sphere as he's an engineer by training.
He has pinned his hopes on his upcoming visit to Kabul and plans to meet with the government ministers and pressurize them for the army and police should have uniforms made of cloth from Afghan cotton, woven in an Afghan mill.
Anticipate that the Directors dreams of neglected looms spinning the uniforms and creating jobs might be soon fulfilled.
The factory is dormant, not operating, but kept alive by a devoted staff although he hasn't been paid for the past one year.
In 1979the rampaging mobs forced to flee the German and Russian engineers who installed the machines and the construction of the factory was never finished.
Production halted completely in the 1990s as rival warlords and then Taliban militias seized control of the facility, using its watchtowers as sniper posts.
In the darkest days of Afghanistan's civil wars, the elders who controlled the district had declared that the textile mill belonged to the country's future and must not be destroyed and the millions of dollars worth of equipment somehow remained almost untouched and undamaged.
Everybody knew the country needed the machines in the later years although that hopeful future hasn't yet arrived.
Wholly owned by the Afghan government, the factory made an attempt to resume business in early 2002.
The mill has since produced 350 tones of cotton fabric but sold only 150 tones and the rest lies in a warehouse, awaiting the salesmanship efforts.
The director admitted that a sale isn't his sphere as he's an engineer by training.
He has pinned his hopes on his upcoming visit to Kabul and plans to meet with the government ministers and pressurize them for the army and police should have uniforms made of cloth from Afghan cotton, woven in an Afghan mill.
Anticipate that the Directors dreams of neglected looms spinning the uniforms and creating jobs might be soon fulfilled.
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