Aynak
ore creates dilemma for
treasure By Frud Bezhan
Flanked by waves of mountains and gray
desert, the road leading from the Afghan capital
to the ancient ruins of Mes Aynak ends abruptly at
the foot of a dusty hilltop. From that vantage
point, 40 kilometers from Kabul, one can get a
clear picture of Afghanistan's rich cultural past,
and its efforts to generate wealth in the future.
The grounds of Mes Aynak in Logar province
are a sprawling 9,800-acre (4,000-hectare) trove
of Buddhist monastery ruins, statues and tombs
that sit largely preserved under layers of
unexcavated earth. It is also the site of a
massive Chinese-funded project to extract an
increasingly valuable regional commodity - copper.
Mes Aynak, meaning "little copper well",
was the center of a Buddhist kingdom before Islam
came to Afghanistan. It is thought
that monks settled here
for its ample supply of copper, which brought them
great wealth and allowed them to build a grand
monastery.
But if copper led to the
creation of the settlement, it appears now that it
will also lead to its destruction.
Crucial for economic future The
Chinese-government-backed China Metallurgical
Group Corporation made a successful bid of US$3
billion for mineral rights to the site in 2008,
making the project the largest foreign investment
project in the country at the time.
With
geologists estimating that 2 billion tons of
copper lie beneath Mes Aynak, the development of
the site is key to Afghanistan's economic future.
The Mes Aynak
archaeological site in Afghanistan.
The deal also includes
infrastructure development, including the
construction of a power plant at the site, a
village for workers, and a railway line from
western China through Tajikistan and Afghanistan
to Pakistan. And it means that Mes Aynak, which
sits on the second-largest known unexploited
copper deposits in the world, is slated for
destruction to make way for a massive open-cast
copper mine.
Repeated attempts to reach
China Metallurgical Group Corporation for comment
on the company's plans were unsuccessful. But what
is known is that the company first intended to
start mining in 2009, but agreed to a three-year
delay for a basic excavation of the site.
Race against time That deadline,
which was set to expire this year, was prolonged
again to 2014. Now dozens of Afghan and
international archaeologists, who began excavating
the site in 2009, are in a race against time to
save what they can.
Haji Akbar, who heads
a local committee in Logar for Mes Aynak, says
efforts to unearth the historical artifacts have
been intensified, with hundreds of local laborers
being hired to help with the digging.
Mes
Aynak holds remains of civilizations going as far
back as the 3rd century BC. Akbar maintains that
only a small portion of the huge site has so far
been fully excavated. And, according to him, what
has been unearthed so far is nothing short of
incredible.
"The excavation in the region
is going at a tremendous pace," he says. "We have
even uncovered a whole city underneath the site.
We have found ancient Buddha statues and jewelry."
Akbar, who heads the local committee that
supervises all the excavation activities at Mes
Aynak, says he is cautiously optimistic that the
intensified efforts of the excavation teams can
save most of the artifacts at the site before the
deadline in 2014.
So far, most of the
unearthed relics have been transferred to the
National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul, while
other larger artifacts are being stored at a
makeshift museum in Mes Aynak.
The Afghan
government plans to eventually build a museum in
the area to accommodate the vast collection of
artifacts after the excavation ends.
Lightning rod for criticism The
project does have the support of some Afghan
archaeologists and historians. But the mining
project is also a lightning rod for criticism,
with opponents saying the Afghan government is
sacrificing Afghanistan's rich cultural heritage
in favor of economic development.
The
numbers of the potential wealth are staggering. If
the predictions are correct, mining the site could
generate more than $1 billion a year for the
Afghan government. That would account for about
one-tenth of Afghanistan's current GDP.
Some
of the artifacts found at the Mes Ainak site.
Omara Khan Massoudi, director
of the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul,
has indicated that he is concerned about the
destruction of Mes Aynak, but he remains
supportive of the project, which he hopes will
help the country’s dire economy and its
poverty-stricken people.
"Afghanistan’s
mineral wealth has yet to be fully utilized," he
says. "In the face of poverty and continuing
economic problems, it’s important for the Mining
Ministry to sign contracts with the leading
international companies to effectively use these
minerals. Exploring these mines will have a huge
economic benefit."
Afghanistan's untapped
mineral wealth has been estimated by US geologists
to amount to nearly $1 trillion. Reserves include
large amounts of copper, gold, cobalt, and
lithium.
Years of destruction and
looting Massoudi, who has worked at the
national museum for the past 27 years, believes
mining projects like Mes Aynak will create jobs as
well as generate money that can be used by the
Afghan government to fund other important sectors
such as health and education.
He maintains
that money generated by mining is becoming
increasingly important as international forces
leave Afghanistan and financial aid from the
international community decreases.
"We
will need this as it will create jobs and play a
big role in the country's economy," he says. "It
will also pave the road toward peace and security
and trickle more money toward other sectors such
as education."
The Mes Aynak site has many historical
monuments.
Massoudi adds that the
battle to rescue the ancient relics in Mes Aynak
is just the latest in a long line of ordeals that
Afghan historians and archaeologists have had to
face in the country. He cites decades of civil war
and foreign invasions that have plagued the
country's recent history. In that time,
Afghanistan's antiquities and historical sites
have suffered years of destruction and looting.
For Massoudi, historical and cultural
preservation is one of the biggest issues facing
Afghanistan. But he says that battle has only just
begun as the country continues to grapple with
poverty, war, and extremism.
RFE/RL's
Radio Free Afghanistan contributed to this
report.
(Copyright (c) 2012, RFE/RL
Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW,
Washington DC 20036.)
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original article, please click here.)
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