Officials from the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) said on Thursday that some of the lower-grade fuel materials imported into Afghanistan, such as "Premagon", have been blended with chemicals that are polluting the environment.
This comes after the Council of Ministers permitted Ghazanfar Group Company to import 500,000 tons Premagon "semi-refined oil," in order to provide cheaper fuel to the market.
Competitor companies have criticized the Council and its decision, having claimed for months that "Premagon" pollutes the air and that the capacity to refine it properly does not even exist in Afghanistan.
Kabul is now documented as one of the most polluted cities in the world. And NEPA claimed that the use of low-quality fuel materials such as Premagon was the major cause.
Medical experts have confirmed that air pollution can cause serious damage to human health, particularly along the lines of respiratory and hearth diseases.
"Low quality fuel materials can cause various types of skin and respiratory diseases as well as cancer," medical expert Abdullah Fahim told TOLOnews.
Car technicians have also said that gas made from semi-refined oil can lead to serious malfunctioning and can ruin engines.
"It kills car engines and other important parts," a Kabul car technician said.
The investigation into Ghazanfar's operations, and the decision of the Council of Ministers, remains inconclusive. Although a team was sent up to examine the company's refinery to see if it was processing the Premagon correctly, nothing ever came of it.
Regardless of whether or not Ghazanfar has the capacity to process the semi-refined oil, however, could be negligible now that major environmental hazards have been linked to the fuel.
TOLOnews contacted the Office of Administrative Affairs and Council of Ministers Secretariat on the matter, but was unable to reach anyone willing to comment.