KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canadian military engineers have taken the first step in plans to rebuild dilapidated apartments that serve as barracks for Afghan National Army soldiers and their families in the Kandahar area.
On Sunday, the engineers inspected the barracks, mostly bombed out shells of 1960s-style apartments originally built by American involved in airport construction.
Despite that, more than 1,000 people live in the apartments, officially known as Camp Shirzai but which the Americans have tried to rename Camp Hero.
Canadian troops started making supply drops at the camp's school soon after they arrived in February 2006 and planned to do renovations.
But instead an entirely new school was built nearby. Now, the Canadians want to do more for the soldiers and their families.
Warrant Officer Steven Beaudet, who is stationed in Moncton, N.B. with the First Engineer Support Unit, says he figures about 60 per cent of the six apartment buildings can be safely rebuilt.
Many of the buildings had holes blown in them -- or their roofs shot away -- by artillery fire in 2001 as the Taliban tried to organize a last stand at nearby Kandahar airfield.
Beaudet's unit, located at the provincial reconstruction base in Kandahar, did a tour of the buildings Sunday, taking photographs and measurements that will be used to determine the safety of each structure.
Their arrival caused a bit of a stir among Afghan soldiers, who didn't want the Canadians taking pictures of the interiors of the buildings with their wives and children inside. Like many Muslims, the soldiers are extremely sensitive about the privacy of women.
A representative of the Canadian International Development Agency accompanied the soldiers.
It was unclear whether CIDA would consider funding the renovations because. The CIDA official refused to speak to reporters at the scene and military officers were uncertain what the arrangements might be.
