July 21, 2008

Refurbishment of Dahla dam could make it a target: defence analyst

OTTAWA

Refurbishing a derelict Afghan dam has been billed as one of Canada’s “signature projects” in the war-ravaged nation, but defence analysts say these major initiatives carry a giant bull’s eye for militants desperate to obliterate tangible signs of progress — and morale.

The warning comes as the federal government issued a tender Monday for the repair of the Dahla dam on the Arghandab River in northern Kandahar province.

Years of war and neglect have taken their toll on the dam. Canada will spend up to $50 million to refurbish the dam to improve irrigation and open up new, fertile soil for farmers deep into the Arghandab River Valley.

Other international partners, including USAID, could also contribute to the project.

The Dahla dam’s repair is one of three signature projects announced last month by the Conservative government. Canada will also build, expand or renovate 50 schools in Kandahar province and finance an ambitious project to immunize seven million children across Afghanistan against polio.

Earlier this year, a blue-ribbon panel headed by former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley urged Ottawa to pursue at least one signature “Canadian” project, easily identifiable to the Afghans that coalition forces are trying to win over.

But these signature projects will surely end up in the insurgents’ cross hairs, said Steven Staples, president of the Rideau Institute.

“Trying to do these major projects . . . (is) just going to create massive targets for the insurgents,” he said.

“Insurgents already are aware of the symbolism of some of these projects, and that will be part of their calculations in terms of targeting these things.”

The Taliban might single out the project as a strategic target, in much the same way they have repeatedly attacked the Kajaki dam, a semi-active hydro-electric facility in neighbouring Helmand province.

British soldiers stationed there have waged bloody campaigns over two years to secure the area around the dam, which only has one of three turbines operating. It’s hoped the Kajaki dam — completed in the 1960s with U.S. government money — will be at full power some time later this year.

The Dahla dam — the second-largest in the country — holds strategic importance for coalition forces.

It is situated along the Arghandab River, which snakes through Afghanistan’s parched southern landscape and is the lifeblood of farmers in the region. The dam will irrigate a huge swath of land alongside the river, which is dotted with dozens of villages that follow its path. Bringing a stable water supply to each of these villages avoids the perception of favouring some over others.

The dam is also seen as a way to wean locals from the poppy fields and into the fruit groves, where there’s the potential to grow pomegranates.

Canadian Press

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