Nonpayment of Afghan Contractors: SIGAR Investigative Efforts Have Helped Resolve Disputes, but Problems Remain

Abstract

In June 2013, SIGAR issued a management alert letter regarding the nonpayment of subcontractors in Afghanistan. The letter provided information concerning complaints SIGAR received about the nonpayment of subcontractors by companies working on U.S.-funded contracts in Afghanistan. The letter also highlighted the risks associated with nonpayment of both subcontractors and prime contractors, and identified possible actions to mitigate the problem of nonpayment. I am now writing to provide updated information concerning SIGAR's efforts to address nonpayment complaints and to suggest actions that your offices may be able to take in order to help address the problems associated with the nonpayment of Afghan contractors. The problems SIGAR first identified in 2013 regarding the nonpayment of Afghan contractors continue to receive attention at the highest levels of the Afghan government and present challenges to the U.S. government's effort to reconstruct Afghanistan. While this report focuses on Afghan prime contractors and subcontractors, it also discusses the effects of nonpayment on other stakeholders in the Afghanistan reconstruction effort, such as U.S. prime contractors. The report also describes the impact of nonpayment on U.S. contracting commands, relevant Afghan government agencies, and Afghan business organizations. To prepare this update, SIGAR reviewed 164 nonpayment-related complaints received through SIGAR's Hotline between October 2012 and August 2015. We found that many of the contractor non payment disputes reported to SIGAR were due to the contractors lack of understanding of the contracting process, the contractor's lack of access to U.S.-based legal remedies, or the contractors lack of access to the U.S. contracting officer.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2017
Accession Number
AD1139973

Entities

Organizations

  • Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Afghanistan
  • Agreements
  • Attorneys
  • Base Closures
  • Business Administration
  • Commerce
  • Construction
  • Contract Administration
  • Contractors
  • Contracts
  • Cost Reimbursement Contracts
  • Fixed Price Contracts
  • Governments
  • International Security
  • Law
  • Materials
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.