Afghan Reconstruction: Corrupt Contractors, Poppy Fields Thriving, Afghan troops ripping off contractor property and abusing contractors?

AFGHAN NATIONAL DEFENSE AND SECURITY FORCES FACILITIES: ACTION NEEDED TO ADDRESS CONFISCATION OF CONTRACTOR-OWNED PROPERTY AND
CONTRACTOR MISTREATMENT

A key U.S. government objective in Afghanistan is to build the country’s capacity to provide for its own security.1 To achieve that objective, as of June 30, 2018, the U.S. Congress had appropriated more than $78.2 billion to support the ANDSF, and the Department of Defense (DOD) had disbursed approximately $9 billion to construct or rehabilitate ANDSF infrastructure.

Multibillion dollar effort by the Department of Defense (DOD) to build the capacity of the Afghan Air Force (AAF) with UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, including helicopter delivery, pilot training, and maintenance programs. SIGAR found that based on the current UH-60 delivery schedule, it is unlikely that enough pilots will be trained before all of the UH-60s are received. SIGAR also found that DOD currently has no maintenance training course to train Afghan personnel to maintain the UH-60s, 159 of which are scheduled to be delivered through 2023.
DOD estimates that the cost of contractor-provided maintenance will be over $2.8 billion and is likely
to grow the longer it takes to develop the AAF and the Special Mission Wing’s maintenance capabilities. Additionally, having insufficient Afghan maintenance personnel will limit UH-60 operations because DOD policy bars U.S. contractors from working where there is no U.S. or Coalition control due to security concerns.

During this reporting period, SIGAR investigations resulted in federal indictments of five persons and one criminal information. Among those indicted were three senior executives at defense contracting firms.

SIGAR’s analysis revealed that the U.S. government overestimated its ability to build and reform government institutions in Afghanistan as part of its $4.7 billion stabilization efforts. The report found the stabilization strategy and the programs used to achieve it were not properly tailored to the Afghan context, and that successes in stabilizing Afghan districts rarely lasted longer than the physical presence of Coalition troops and civilians.

SIGAR’s analysis revealed that no counternarcotics program led to last- ing reductions in poppy cultivation or opium production. Eradication had no lasting impact, and was not consistently conducted in the same locations as development assistance. Alternative-development programs were often too short-term, failed to provide sustainable alternatives
to poppy, and sometimes even contributed to poppy production

In addition, reconstruction teams are faced with the problem of the Afghan troops stealing equipment, sometimes with the use of force, provided to U.S. funded contractors to rebuild
During the course of a previous review, we were made aware of concerns by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) staff overseeing three operations and maintenance contracts serving Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF) facilities in Afghanistan regarding the theft of contractor-owned property and abuses to contract staff. Two contracts ended in 2015 and one O&M contract is currently on-going and set to end in March 2019. This report addresses those concerns. The objectives of this review were to determine the extent to which: (1) contractor- owned property and equipment was confiscated by ANDSF personnel; (2) ANDSF personnel mistreated and threatened contractor personnel at O&M work sites; and (3) USACE and CSTC-A took action to address property confiscation and contractor mistreatment.

Over the course of our review, we found that ANDSF personnel confiscated contractor owned property under all three USACE O&M contracts. Our review of USACE data found that ANDSF personnel had confiscated more than $780,000 in property and equip(ment intended to support O&M at ANDSF facilities since the start of the O&M contracts. USACE told us that it has been able to help the contractor reclaim stolen property in the majority of instances in which theft occurred, USACE has paid over $325,000 to compensate the contractor of the two completed contracts for confiscated property that it could not recover at six sites under the Northern and Southern contracts. USACE reported that it is in the process of reviewing documentation to support payment to the current O&M contractor for 16 sites in which USACE was unable to reclaim the contractor’s property in the amount of $454,900. According to USACE, ANDSF personnel confiscated this equipment despite the provision of approximately $1,302,800 in excess spare parts and equipment provided to the ANDSF to support its O&M efforts for the two completed Exelis contracts.

We also found that the ANDSF mistreated or abused contractor staff, and had reportedly detained staff against their will and threatened or intimidated them into completing work that was outside the scope of the O&M contract requirements. Between August 2011 and November 2013, USACE identified 296 serious incident reports (SIRs) reported across approximately 500 supported ANDSF sites that the O&M contractor filed with USACE. Of this total 71 regarded abuses, threats, intimidation, and confiscated property. According to USACE officials we spoke with, USACE takes steps to address these SIRS and prevent contractor mistreatment and theft, however, USACE reported that it does not have an official system in place to record actions it has taken to resolve incidents reported by contractor staff.
According to USACE personnel they routinely work with the Combined Security Transition Command- Afghanistan (CSTC-A) to address these issues. CSTC-A has several mechanisms for holding the ANDSF accountable, including engaging on-site advisors for assistance and using financial penalties to ensure that the Afghan government understands the terms and conditions for proper utilization of CSTC-A funds (including purpose, time, and amount) and the possible consequences of improper use of funds. However, CSTC-A has not assessed any financial penalties against the ANDSF for confiscated property or the mistreatment of contractor personnel.
The full report from Sigar click here