By Luke Baker
KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Said Mohammed spends eighthours a day six days a week cementing walls with his barehands, earning just $3 a day. He could barely be happier.
"This is a very good job, very good," he says, beaming andeager to explain everything about it in his garbled, rapid-fireEnglish apparently learnt from American TV shows.
"I come here from just nearby, spend eight hours, break forprayer, home at four. On Fridays I have day off. It's verygood. I support myself, seven brothers and two sisters," herattles off, slapping down dollops of cement as he talks.
Mohammed, 20, is one of several hundred Afghans employed ata U.S. military base in eastern Afghanistan, doing everythingfrom digging holes to carrying furniture, building newbarracks, cleaning toilets and filling sandbags.
While content, he is also a little jealous of some of theothers working nearby who earn $8-10 a day doing similar jobs.They are employed by KBR, a U.S. firm with vast reconstructionand supply contracts in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
According to Mohammed, to get hired by KBR you have to knowthe man who finds the workers for the U.S. company. If you donot know him -- a local from Khost -- you get stuck on $3 anhour.
"Maybe soon I'll get a new job with the Americans," hesays, looking over at the nearby work site, where 10-15 Afghansin traditional clothes with turbans on their heads -- wearingdark sunglasses supplied by the Americans -- are labouring inthe heat under the watchful eye of a Western KBR contractor.
While the working conditions are grim -- the hours arelong, they are under constant watch sometimes by armed U.S.soldiers, and they have to march everywhere in single file witha "guard" behind -- Mohammed and the others are in the luckyminority.
KEEP QUIET
In Khost, unemployment is estimated by local officials tobe running at somewhere between 80 and 90 percent -- it's hardto tell exactly because no one registers as jobless and manypeople manage to find informal work from time to time.
In the past, the lack of jobs and the frustrations thatbrings for young men eager to earn a wage and eventually marry,has been exploited by the Taliban to win recruits. Now, whenthey see men working and suspect it is for the Americans, theTaliban are quick to threaten, intimidate or kill.
"I can't tell anyone what I do," says Saif, a translator onthe base who asked that only part of his name be used.
"Just recently, one man who worked here had his head cutoff by the Taliban," he says, estimating that in the threeyears he has worked for the Americans, around four dozenAfghans working on U.S. bases near the city of Khost have beenkilled.
The labourers though are more than happy to take the riskfor the sake of a small but regular wage. Most have extendedfamilies to support and are struggling because of rising foodand energy costs.
In the past six months, the price of a 50 kg (110 lb) bagof rice in the Khost market has risen from 1,100 afghanis(around $22) to 2,000 afghanis, locals say. Wheat has risenfrom 1,500 for a 100 kg bag to 3,500-4,000. Diesel prices havedoubled.
"It's hard for people to survive," says Saif, who supports18 members of his family on earnings of around $1,200 a month.
"The high prices and the lack of work, they are both thingsthat force people to join the Taliban," he argues, believingthat many people ally themselves with the militants not for anypolitical reason but for criminal gain.
Those that do not have work and do not side with theTaliban tend to blame their problems on the government, whichthey see as corrupt and inefficient. Perhaps as a consequence,local governors are keen for the Americans to launch morereconstruction projects -- like new roads -- to provide jobs.
"The expectations from the people are very high," saysAbdul Jabbar Naeemi, the governor of Maidan Wardak, a provincenear Kabul. "What I want are more development projects so thatwe can give the people some jobs. That's what they want."
(Editing by Alex Richardson)
