N.Z. Butter Bought For 17s a In In Afghanistan

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28783, 2 January 1959, Page 9

N.Z. Butter Bought For 17s a In In Afghanistan

An Australian who considers it a privilege to pay 17s a lb for New Zealand butter when it is available on about three occasions a year arrived in Christchurch recently.

He is Mr K. A. Milnes, a representative of the Internationa] Harvesting Export Company of Chicago, who for the last four years and a half has been concerned with the sale of agricultural and construction equipment in Afghanistan. Accompanied by his wife. Mr Milnes is at present on a six-week leave period and is spending a week touring New Zealand.

Speaking of 'butter he said the New Zealand product was only obtainable in Kabul, the capita] of Afghanistan, about three times a year. It was packaged in Britain and flown to the capital from either Beirut or Bahrein.

“There is an alternative supply of unsalted Danish butter, also at the same price and much more readily available but which in our opinion does not compare for quality with the New Zealand product.” he said.

“During the last eight years there has been a considerable development in the Helnjand Valley in south-west Afghanistan Americans are carrying out most of their development work on such projects as hydro-elec-tricity and irrigation for agricultural purposes,” he said. These projects were mainly financed by the Afghanistan Government through the Export-Import Bank. 163-Mile Road A project scheduled to begin soon was the asphalt paving of the road from the PakistanAfghanistan border at Torkhuir to Kabul—about 163 miles, which would make a link to Peshawar, in Pakistan, through the Khyber Pass, he said. The work would be done under the guidance of American road engineers and financed from American aid. It was anticipated that when the project was completed the travel time between

Kabul and Peshawar would be reduced by nearly.. 50 per cent. At present the journey takes about two days by truck over rough and mountainous country.” Mr Milnes said that further plans for the rebuilding and paving of the 300-mile long road between Kabul and Khandahar were in the “melting pot” and would also be American financed.

Also working in Afghanistan is a large group of Russian engineers who are mainly concerned with asphalting the streets of Kabul, building grain storage silos and gasoline storage depots in various parts of the country. Mr Milnes said it was difficult to determine the extent of their work as most foreigners were kept away from their projects. Meetings between the two groups of American and Russian engineers were held infrequently at diplomatic gatherings in Kabul. Although there were about 300 American families living in the city, the number of Russians was believed to be greater. “In Afghanistan, the population is nearly 94 per cent, illiterate. Their present methods of farming have not progressed much from Biblical days. The land is tilled with the wooden plough, the seed is distributed by hand and the crop is also harvested by hand,” he said. “In the fields, wives and daughters assist the farmers in their work.”

“Kabul, with a population of about 60.000 has no sanitary system or water supply and only recently has an improved ’ electricity supply been provided. The water used for cooking and drinking purposes is delivered daily to the houses in goatskin bags. It has to be boiled and cooled before it is fit for drinking,” said Mr Milnes.

“Most administrative work is undertaken by men and , their average salary would be about £3 10s a month. Although it sounds small they seem to get by.”