Senior Civilian Representative

The Senior Civilian Representative, or SCR, visited us today. He is going to be the head of a new civilan structure, parallel to the military element of the Provincial Reconstruction Team. No-one knows exactly what the new organisation is going to look like, but it will consist of several more political and development advisors than are available at present. The SCR himself is a top diplomat with a 30-year career behind him, for example as the Swedish ambassador to Serbia and to the OSCE in Vienna, and as the head of the department of security policy at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The visit went well. The delegation left early, because they had another appointment.

I had the IP call the office in MeS that deals with the land ownership issues. They were all ready to come and inspect the area that we are interested in, but they had only one problem: they have no vehicle. I called the chief of the department of agriculture, because he has a nice Toyota Hilux. He said that their montly quota of fuel, which is 200 litres, has now been spent. I told him that if he goes to pick up the people from Mazar today, we would be happy to fill up the tank of the Toyota. Then it turned out that his colleague the property officer was in Baghlan, and that his mobile phone was outside coverage area. The chief said that he would call us back as soon as he reached his colleague. Then I called the provincial governor, and requested him for a transport to the inspectors from Mazar-e Sharif. The governor's answer was quick: "I will immediately send a vehicle to get fuel from you and then to Mazar to pick up the inspectors!" The vehicle never came, and the chief of the agricultural department never called.

It was unbearably hot today, 45 degrees in the shade, and tomorrow is going to be no better: