AIBAK: Revenue generated from the coalmine in Dara-i-Sauf Bala district of northern Samangan province has increased by 166 million afghanis in the first six months of the current year compared to the same period in 2015, an official said on Wednesday.
Eng. Abdul Jabbar Hameedi, head of the coalmine entrepreneur in the north, told Pajhwok Afghan News more than 1.2 billion afghanis had been collected in revenue from the coalmines in Dahna Tor and Shababak areas.
The income indicates a 166 million afghanis increase over the revenue collected during the corresponding period last year. He recalled the revenue figure for the first half of 2015 was 864 million afghanis.
Hameedi confirmed coal was being extracted by the residents, with the government charging 1,500 afghanis in tax on one tonne of coal. He said growing demand for coal had translated into a revenue boost.
But Mohammad Sedique, the governor’s spokesman, said due to unemployment more youth were coming to work in the mining sector. Therefore, more coal was being extracted and there was an increase in the revenue as well, he explained.
Ali Ahmad Hussaini, the town’s administrative chief, said 10,000 individuals from different provinces of the country were extracting coal from 1,000 tunnels in the coalmine. Earlier, 8,000 people worked in 700 tunnels, he recalled.
The Dara-i-Sauf coalmine was discovered by residents of the locality in 1966. Russian and German geologists estimated in 1967 the site had 150 million tonnes of coal. Several coal mines exist in other parts of the country as well.
Experts says coalmine reservoirs lie in the form of a belt along the Hindu Kush Mountain stretching from Badakhshan, Takhar, Baghlan, Samangan and Bamyan to Sar-i-Pul.
Coal is used in brick kilns, small factories and for heating up homes and offices.
