VANCOUVER, CANADA – The office of the Taliban governor in the central province of Bamyan says that an Italian organization in collaboration with the University of Florence in Italy, will construct 100 residential houses for those who currently live in caves.
According to the announcement, Annie Bali, the head of the Italian organization Vento, stated on May 22, during a meeting with Bamyan governor Abdullah Sarhadi, that the construction of these houses will begin soon.
Mr. Bali, who, along with Professor Dali, the president of the University of Florence said that the cost of constructing these houses would be 300,000 USD. He added that the houses would be built in a modern manner.
Many families live in caves around the ancient Buddha statues that were blown up by the Taliban when they were last in power in the 1990s and early 2000s. They often complain about their welfare and lack of access to basic services including clean drinking water.
The caves were built centuries ago for Bhudist worshippers who came to Bamyan, then one of the most important cities in Buddhism and along the prolific Silk Road.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also stated that they would build a residential township for 144 cave-dwelling families in Bamyan City. The foundation of the township was laid on May 2, 2023, in the presence of Gillian Triggs, the Deputy High Commissioner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Mohammad Ashraf Niazi, the provincial director of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Bamyan, said that the township would be built on an area of 60 acres with all the amenities of urban life.
Mehrab Ali, who has been allocated a house in the town, expressed his happiness and said that he had been suffering for years. Gul Tamam, another man who lives in a cave, said that with the construction of the township, she would be able to live without fear of the cave ceiling collapsing.
The Ministry of Urban Development and Housing of the former government had siad in 2017, that the master plan for Bamyan province was being prepared in collaboration with Italian experts from Florence University.
