Civilians leave their desks to help Afghan homeless

Aug 27 2007 by David Higgerson, Liverpool Daily Post

CIVILIAN staff based at the Ministry of Defence’s offices in Liverpool have been dispatched to Afghanistan to help people claim compensation for damage caused by six years of fighting there.

The Army has held its first reconstruction and development event for local Afghan people in the village of Rahim Kalay, which was liberated from the Taliban just six weeks ago.

At least 400 people, many queuing for hours, flocked to the event in the village, which sits on the edge of Helmand Province's dangerous Green Zone.

The most popular stall at the event was a compensation bureau run by civilian Ministry of Defence employees normally based in offices in Liverpool.

Local people whose homes were destroyed or damaged in recent fighting were invited to apply for compensation.

Staff from Liverpool, currently based in the Provincial Capital Lashkar Gah, were dispatched to the former troublespot to help speed up the process of handling payments.

Karen Downey, 47, who normally works at the MoD's Director General Financial Management Shared Services Centre in Liverpool, handed over the cash to people.

“We have got a number of claims here that we are aware of and we are hoping the people will turn up so we can make settlements with them,” she said.

“If we are liable in any way, we will pay them a just and fair settlement.”

She said that the payments would depend on whether the damage resulted from negligence or omissions by British forces in action, although goodwill pay-outs could be made in other circumstances.

First in line to get money was Dos Mohammed, a local man whose mud-walled compound was requisitioned during a major push forward last month and has now become part of the main British base in the area.

The property boasts a well, a dirt-floored reception area and fortress-style walls – although some improvements have been made since the British moved in such the installation of mortar bunkers.

After holding out for more, he eventually settled for a one-off payment of $10,000 (£5,000) for the use of his compound while it is needed by the Army.

The owner of a neighbouring mud-walled building was told he would receive slightly less as his property was smaller.

Lieutenant Colonel Simon Banton, who as Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment heads the British Battle Group in central Helmand, said: “Frankly this is the most important thing: It's not the war fighting, it's the reconstruction and development.

"It is this that is going to take the time, the war fighting can often be over in minutes or hours or days on a given occasion, but the requirement for infrastructure and good governance takes years or even decades to develop.

"Perseverance and patience are going to be the watchwords of this particular campaign; we will always defeat the enemy militarily, but can he outlast us?"

Other stalls were set out offering advice on landmines and information on future redevelopment plans while an Afghan national Army post handed out children's clothes and wind-up radios.

Afghanistan has an estimated 10m landmines, many left over from the Red Army invasion, said to have killed 400,000 since 1979.

At the reconstruc-tion stall, locals were told about projects such as new schools in nearby Gereshk and canvassed about what was most needed in Rahim Kalay.

davidhiggerson