KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - It was billed as the star of Canada's mission in Afghanistan but the military's provincial reconstruction team has little to show off one year after setting up in Kandahar city.
A series of setbacks, starting with the bombing death of Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry and continuing on to the recent outbreak of heavy fighting, have robbed the team - known as the PRT - of precious muscle and expertise over the past year.
Lt.-Col. Simon Hetherington, in charge of the PRT, admits he has few concrete results to show right now but promises some soon.
"We have had a lull, we need to get moving, I recognize that," said Hetherington, a plain-speaking artillery officer.
"I'm a simple guy. 'Show me the schools you've built, show me the roads you've built, show me all that stuff.' I can't show you that now."
"If you come back in three months and you ask the same question, 'What have you done?' and I have the same answer ... I'm probably going to be on a plane home because I'll be fired."
Critics like former prime minister Paul Martin and NDP Leader Jack Layton say Canada's mission in Afghanistan has strayed, emphasizing combat over rebuilding.
Canada has pledged $100 million a year for Afghanistan, and millions have been spent across the country on hundreds of schools, water wells and a host of other projects.
But progress has been slow at the PRT, dedicated to Kandahar province where the Taliban insurgency has a tenacious foothold.
Hetherington has $2.4 million to spend and the Canadian International Development Agency has unspecified millions more, but money's not the problem.
Soldiers dedicated to the PRT turned to combat as the insurgency grew through the spring and summer. Aid groups putting dollars to work have stayed out of the restive south.
The PRT is dedicated to organizing Afghans to lead the way, a goal that could take years.
"Security remains a major impediment to rolling out a number of these programs we have been planning in the last year," said Helene Kadi, CIDA's director with the PRT.
"The challenge is also capacity on the ground. A lot of money is being pumped into the system but the capacity to deliver in the (Afghan) government itself and our implementing partners is very low."
Since the start of 2006, everyone from common shopkeepers to well-connected political brokers who are Canadian allies have complained about the crawling pace of reconstruction.
"The working pace since the Canadians came to Kandahar to replace the Americans is very slow," says Haji Qassam, a provincial councillor and backer of international efforts.
"The first task must be security, but as long as people are jobless, there will be insecurity."
The PRT has done good deeds. It purchased trucks and started building a new police station - a project launched early in the mission that has stalled.
The team has handed out Canadian donations of basic firefighting gear, medical equipment and school supplies - tasks that are not part of the team's mandate but have been the most visible so far.
Yellow garbage cans with Canadian flags dot the main drag in Kandahar city.
Lately, the PRT helped the United Nations hand out food and started financing a few thousand dollars worth of repair on canals and roads in the Panjwaii district, the scene of a major battle earlier this month.
The PRT was crippled on Jan. 15 when Berry, the senior Foreign Affairs official at the PRT, died in a suicide bombing.
The PRT mission was built on the concept of "3-D" - defence, diplomacy and development. Fearing for the safety of civilian employees, Ottawa kept CIDA, Foreign Affairs and other key workers away for months, depriving the PRT of two of its D pillars.
When the civilians returned, security in the province had gone downhill and many PRT soldiers were out fighting pitched battles against insurgents.
Thirty of the 37 deaths in the Canadian mission to Afghanistan have come since the move to Kandahar, including nine in September alone.
"A year ago it was dangerous here, but it wasn't what we are talking about now," Hetherington said.
Ottawa is sending a rifle company so the PRT can get out more. Engineers have arrived to advise and supervise.
From the beginning, the Canadian effort has concentrated on "capacity building," a phrase repeated like a mantra by Canadian officials and recently learned by soldiers like Hetherington.
Instead of rapidly throwing money into schools and roads like their American predecessors, Canada wants to build institutions, councils and committees to create and execute projects.
"If we dump $100 million in Kandahar and Kandahar becomes some Shangri-la, all this stuff happens and it becomes Canada-har, if we leave, what happens?" Hetherington said.
But building such capabilities takes time in a country where few systems exist.
"We're not focusing on the dollar amount, because it's not about money," said CIDA's Kadi.
"It's about respecting these processes, ensuring those processes are in place and working through them. This is how we are going to have an impact."
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A series of setbacks, starting with the bombing death of Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry and continuing on to the recent outbreak of heavy fighting, have robbed the team - known as the PRT - of precious muscle and expertise over the past year.
Lt.-Col. Simon Hetherington, in charge of the PRT, admits he has few concrete results to show right now but promises some soon.
"We have had a lull, we need to get moving, I recognize that," said Hetherington, a plain-speaking artillery officer.
"I'm a simple guy. 'Show me the schools you've built, show me the roads you've built, show me all that stuff.' I can't show you that now."
"If you come back in three months and you ask the same question, 'What have you done?' and I have the same answer ... I'm probably going to be on a plane home because I'll be fired."
Critics like former prime minister Paul Martin and NDP Leader Jack Layton say Canada's mission in Afghanistan has strayed, emphasizing combat over rebuilding.
Canada has pledged $100 million a year for Afghanistan, and millions have been spent across the country on hundreds of schools, water wells and a host of other projects.
But progress has been slow at the PRT, dedicated to Kandahar province where the Taliban insurgency has a tenacious foothold.
Hetherington has $2.4 million to spend and the Canadian International Development Agency has unspecified millions more, but money's not the problem.
Soldiers dedicated to the PRT turned to combat as the insurgency grew through the spring and summer. Aid groups putting dollars to work have stayed out of the restive south.
The PRT is dedicated to organizing Afghans to lead the way, a goal that could take years.
"Security remains a major impediment to rolling out a number of these programs we have been planning in the last year," said Helene Kadi, CIDA's director with the PRT.
"The challenge is also capacity on the ground. A lot of money is being pumped into the system but the capacity to deliver in the (Afghan) government itself and our implementing partners is very low."
Since the start of 2006, everyone from common shopkeepers to well-connected political brokers who are Canadian allies have complained about the crawling pace of reconstruction.
"The working pace since the Canadians came to Kandahar to replace the Americans is very slow," says Haji Qassam, a provincial councillor and backer of international efforts.
"The first task must be security, but as long as people are jobless, there will be insecurity."
The PRT has done good deeds. It purchased trucks and started building a new police station - a project launched early in the mission that has stalled.
The team has handed out Canadian donations of basic firefighting gear, medical equipment and school supplies - tasks that are not part of the team's mandate but have been the most visible so far.
Yellow garbage cans with Canadian flags dot the main drag in Kandahar city.
Lately, the PRT helped the United Nations hand out food and started financing a few thousand dollars worth of repair on canals and roads in the Panjwaii district, the scene of a major battle earlier this month.
The PRT was crippled on Jan. 15 when Berry, the senior Foreign Affairs official at the PRT, died in a suicide bombing.
The PRT mission was built on the concept of "3-D" - defence, diplomacy and development. Fearing for the safety of civilian employees, Ottawa kept CIDA, Foreign Affairs and other key workers away for months, depriving the PRT of two of its D pillars.
When the civilians returned, security in the province had gone downhill and many PRT soldiers were out fighting pitched battles against insurgents.
Thirty of the 37 deaths in the Canadian mission to Afghanistan have come since the move to Kandahar, including nine in September alone.
"A year ago it was dangerous here, but it wasn't what we are talking about now," Hetherington said.
Ottawa is sending a rifle company so the PRT can get out more. Engineers have arrived to advise and supervise.
From the beginning, the Canadian effort has concentrated on "capacity building," a phrase repeated like a mantra by Canadian officials and recently learned by soldiers like Hetherington.
Instead of rapidly throwing money into schools and roads like their American predecessors, Canada wants to build institutions, councils and committees to create and execute projects.
"If we dump $100 million in Kandahar and Kandahar becomes some Shangri-la, all this stuff happens and it becomes Canada-har, if we leave, what happens?" Hetherington said.
But building such capabilities takes time in a country where few systems exist.
"We're not focusing on the dollar amount, because it's not about money," said CIDA's Kadi.
"It's about respecting these processes, ensuring those processes are in place and working through them. This is how we are going to have an impact."
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