Afghanistan: millions of dollars wasted in infrastructure work

Hundreds of millions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer funds were lost because of bad planning and poor quality work to rebuild Afghanistan, and billions more could be wasted, said Monday a senior official, according to AFP. The report from the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, John Sopko, appointed at the end of May by President Obama, also points out that the withdrawal of American troops that will hand over the security to the Afghan authorities will also charge the bill for the U.S. aid programs.

“The United States risk losing billions of dollars if development programs can not be sustained, either by the Afghan government or donations”, according to the report submitted to Congress. “As the report emphasizes, despite a decade of struggle and conflict – and more than $89 billion earmarked by U.S. for reconstruction of Afghanistan – there are still serious problems,” says Sopko. According to Sopko, much of the $400 million invested in infrastructure in fiscal year 2011 will be lost because of poor management, coordination and execution of works.

The study of several projects on the field revealed significant construction problems. For example, three police stations in Nangarhar province (east) were showing significant deficiencies: watchtowers too fragile, sewage facility not hooked up, leaking fuel lines, poorly installed heating and ventilation systems, etc. The report also mentions that one base was not occupied because it had no viable water supply. Following complaints about the poor quality work, several people were arrested in the United States in Afghanistan and $900,000 have been recovered.

Afghan Infrastructure Fund, authorized in 2010, is analyzed in detail in the report. Congress has invested $800 million in the past two years, and the Department of State contributed nearly one billion dollars in these programs for the infrastructure in the country. The report was prepared while the NATO troops have already begun to withdraw from the country. All foreign forces must leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.