12-19-05,9:14am

KABUL, 15 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - Recent remarks by the UN suggesting that poppy cultivation in Afghanistan was likely to rise again next year, despite a significant drop in 2005, have drawn criticism from the government.

The remarks were made by Doris Buddenberg, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) Representative in Afghanistan, at a UN press briefing on Monday in the capital Kabul. Buddenberg said that poppy cultivation in 2005 was down by 25 percent compared with the previous year, but would likely rise again in 2006.

“We don’t understand the purpose behind such a statement by UNODC, because the autumn plantation season in the country is not yet over,” Habibullah Qaderi, Minister for Counter Narcotics said on Wednesday.

The minister also said that much had been done this year to improve counter-narcotics operations with stronger law enforcement. A Counter-Narcotics Judicial Taskforce (CNJT) was established, which so far, has handled over 300 cases and over 500 drug traffickers have been either detained or imprisoned. More than 100 mt of drugs and precursors have been seized and destroyed, the ministry noted. He added that support among the public to tackle the issue had also increased.

Similarly, the Afghan Counter Narcotics Trust Fund (ACNTF) was established recently. It gives the Afghan government greater ownership over the implementation of its counter-narcotics strategy and brings more transparency and accountability regarding the counter-narcotics budget. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the trustee of the fund.

“I think Afghanistan has established an effective foundation this year to build on for the years to come in its counter-narcotics campaign,” Qaderi noted.

The minister also revealed that the poppy eradication campaign, due to start in the next couple of months, will be more forceful and comprehensive than ever before.

Opium poppies began to be cultivated on a large scale in Afghanistan in the early 1980s after bans in neighbouring countries.

The desperately poor country now produces about 87 percent of the global crop, the base for nearly all the heroin consumed in Western countries.

The UN and the government have estimated the total export value of Afghanistan's opium in 2005 at US $2.7 billion, equivalent to 52 percent of the country's official gross domestic product.