KABUL (SW): Nahid Farid, a member of the Lower House of Representatives (Wolesi Jirga), in a special interview with Salam Watandar, criticized the local government of Herat for being ineffective in spending its budget; saying that the administration could not spend 77% of its development budget.
While local administrations in Herat blamed the ministries to have not sent their budget on time, however, Nahid Farid said that each local administration is responsible for not receiving their budget and they should have informed their representatives in WJ about it before it was too late. According to Nahid Farid, some of Herat’s local administrations have spent only 3 percent of their development budget, which is diminutive.
Nahid Farid, also criticized the sluggishness of the Governor of Herat and said that the Governor does not want the Provincial Council members and the WJ members to attend his meetings fearing that it will unveil his weaknesses and shortcomings.
However, the spokesperson for Governor of Herat, Jilani Farhad, contradicted Nahid Farid’s remarks about the ineffectiveness of local administration in Herat, saying that they have held several meetings with the heads of local administrations on the transfer of funds from ministries, but the central government has not paid any attention to this issue.
Jilani Farhad also called on Herat representatives in WJ to cooperate with the local administrations in receiving their next year’s budget on time.
Failure to receive funds on time has been a major challenge for local administration of Herat for several years. According to economic experts, the impediment in sending development funds on time has stopped or slowed down the progress of the projects in the past years.
ENDS
