Officials from the Union of Stone Extraction and Processing Companies said nearly 90 percent of the production and extraction business in the country has stopped.
According to officials, the lack of a market has led the companies into a recession and a large number of workers have lost their jobs.
“Our activities have declined by around 90 percent and now only 10 to 15 percent of our activities are going on and the rest has stopped,” said Nasratullah Azizi, head of the union.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum announced a call for bids for over 20 small marble mines in Kandahar, Nangarhar and Kunar provinces and called for investment in those mines.
“Most of our factories are closed due to the lack of raw materials, and the source for the raw materials of our stone processing factories are the mines, and no contract has been signed yet regarding those mines,” said Mohammad Karim Azimi, executive director of the Kabul Chamber of Industries and Mines.
According to the owner of the marble processing factories, there were more than one hundred marble mining factories in the country, but currently only 10% of them are operating.
“50 employees were working with us but now only 12 employees are working and that is only to keep the mine active,” said Abdulbari Wardak, a factory owner.
In the meantime, a number of the owners of the stone factories said that due to the lack of a proper market their factories have ceased operations.
“In fact, most of the construction companies have closed and no one builds houses today,” said Mahram Ali Jawiad, an owner of the factory.
Meanwhile, officials at the Afghanistan Chamber of Mines and Industries urged the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum to reduce the charges on marble stone extraction so that the investors can invest in this sector.
Currently, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum charges 500 Afs for every ton of marble
