Nangarhar's Newly-appointed deputy governor, Mohammad Gardewal chairs his first provincial administrative.

NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Nangarhar's newly-appointed deputy

governor, Mohammad Gardewal, chaired his first provincial administrative

meeting at the governor's house March 31.

Some of the topics raised included the need for a strategic plan in the

province, currency issues and proposed government contracts.

The weekly meeting is nominally designed to discuss contracts, explained

Lt. Col. Brian Panton, from Silver Spring, Md., lead civil affairs

officer, Nangarhar Provincial Reconstruction Team.

The most pressing matter is the provincial government still lacked a

comprehensive plan for the next budgetary year.

"We don't have a plan, so we're confused and lost," said Dr. Allah Dad,

Nangarhar's education line director. "This is a big problem. We need to

fix it."

Sayed Qayas, the economic line director, said one of the difficulties

preventing the province from creating a unified plan was a lack of

communication between government officials and outside donors.

"We need to create better coordination between international

organizations, non-governmental organizations and the government," Qayas

said.

Gardewal signalled his commitment to tackling the strategic plan head-on

by instructing his line directors to compile all their documentation

relevant to a provincial plan, then he scheduled a meeting in April to

begin debate and discussion solely on the province's resources and

goals.

Another topic of contention was the unwillingness of citizens in the

province, particularly in the capital city of Jalalabad, to using the

official currency of the country, the Afghani. The assembled

representatives all agreed that this reluctance by their constituents

undermined economic prosperity in the region.

Proposed solutions to the currency problem ranged from better messaging

to the people of Nangarhar to potential criminal penalties for using

other nations' money. Gardewal tasked officials to draft solutions prior

to the next administrative meeting to increase use of the Afghani.

Finally, the group voted on government contracts. Panton said, Officials

were particularly cautious about being good stewards of their limited

budget, outright denying one of the five contracts discussed for being

too costly and necessitating lower prices on two contracts before

approving them.

While many aspects of the government in Nangarhar still need work, the

administrative meeting is an area that has seen encouraging strides

toward proficiency, Panton said.

"There has been significant improvement over the years, and I can see

improvements continuing to take place," said Panton.

The newly-appointed deputy governor of Nangarhar, Mohammad Gardewal, addresses his line directors during his first administrative meeting at the governor's house March 31. The administrative meeting gives government representatives an opportunity to discuss the issues they face and vote on pending government contracts.

Nangarhar province's line directors and deputy governor met at the governor's house March 31 for their weekly administrative meeting.