ROADS, CANALS and schools built in Afghanistan as part of a special US military programme are crumbling under Afghan stewardship, despite new steps imposed over the past year to ensure reconstruction money is not being wasted, according to government reports and interviews with military and civilian personnel.
US troops in Afghanistan have spent $2 billion (€1.5 billion) in the past six years on 16,000 humanitarian projects through the Commander’s Emergency Response Program, which gives a battalion-level commander the power to treat aid dollars as ammunition.
A report scheduled for release this month reveals how quickly programme projects can slide into neglect after being transferred to Afghan control.
The Afghans had problems maintaining about half of the 69 projects reviewed in eastern Afghanistan’s Laghman province, according to an audit by the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction.
Dilapidated projects could present a challenge to the US strategy of shifting more responsibility to Afghans. Investing in infrastructure, notes US president Barack Obama’s December review of the war, “will give the Afghan government and people the tools to build and sustain . . . stability”.
“Sustainment is one of the biggest issues with our whole strategy,” said a civilian official who shared details from a draft of the report. “The Afghans don’t have the money or capacity to sustain much,” he added.
Photographs in the report show washed-out roads, with gashes and potholes where improvised explosive devices can be hidden. Among the projects profiled is a redredged canal that filled with silt a month after opening.
Multiple reports by the government accountability office have noted the lack of monitoring by the Pentagon. Moreover, because formal US oversight stops after a project is turned over to Afghans, it is hard to gauge how projects are maintained countrywide.
When asked whether the Afghans have trouble sustaining projects, the US military said it did not have the information to provide an immediate answer.
Top US commander in Afghanistan Gen David Petraeus said in Senate testimony last year that the programme “is the most responsive and effective means to address a local community’s needs”. He previously relied on the discretionary fund as the commanding general in Iraq, where a total of $3.5 billion has been spent through the programme.
Over the past two years, Gen Petraeus has pushed for stricter controls to stop possible fraud and waste.
In response to “insufficient management”, programme guidance for Afghanistan was revised in December 2009, according to a statement by the military.
The new guidance emphasises the need to meet with Afghan leaders when choosing what to fund. It does not, however, require US troops to continue inspecting projects after they are placed under Afghan control. – (Washington Post/Bloomberg)