The Afghan government is taking various tough measures including
the sacking of governors, possible ground chemical spraying, to
prevent the rocketing poppy cultivation in this country, a senior
Afghan officer said Friday.
"If governors and district chiefs are not able to reduce poppy
cultivation, at least they will lose their jobs," Said Mohammad
Azam, director of Public Relation and Public Information of Afghan
Counter Narcotics Ministry, told Xinhua in an exclusive
interview.
District and police chiefs of Daryam in the northeastern
Badakhshan province had been sacked for incapability in fighting
drug, he added.
Azam said an eight-member anti-narcotics committee, grouping
district and police chiefs, has been established in 108 districts
of 11 provinces where poppy cultivation is rife.
The committee would supervise poppy crops closely and find ways
to reduce it, he added.
In 2006, poppy cultivation in Afghanistan reached a record 165,
000 hectares, up 59 percent from last year, according to a report
by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime issued in September.
Opium production reached 6,100 tons, witnessing a 49 percent
rise over 2005 and accounting for 92 percent of the world's total
supply, the report said.
The Afghan government has been severely criticized by the
international community, especially Western countries for its
failure to curb the booming opium industry.
Azam said "Ground chemical spraying would be the last option if
all other options do not work. But no decision of using chemical
spraying has been made."
It is the first time that the Afghan government accepted that
chemical spraying could be considered to curb poppy
cultivation.
But Azam said aerial spraying is out of the choice, as it would
do great harm to water resources, cattle, human being, etc.
The number of 6,100 tons of opium is "not acceptable and not
tolerable," and it "brings a bad name for the country," said Azam,
adding Afghanistan is pushing the national anti-drug campaign led
by President Hamid Karzai.
However, analysts say it is a daunting task to curb opium
production in Afghanistan as insecurity, official corruption and
poverty there are providing fertile soil for the industry.
Moreover, as Azam said the government would not provide job
opportunities, crop seeds, and other compensation for those who are
forced or persuaded out of planting poppy, it is extraordinarily
difficult for farmers to abandon the industry, which many tightly
tie their lives to.
(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2006)
