Afghanistan's National Power Utility: $12.8 Million in DOD-Purchased Equipment Sits Unused, and USAID Paid a Contractor for Work Not Done

Abstract

Afghanistan's national power utility, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), operates and manages electric power generation, import, transmission, and distribution throughout Afghanistan. Since 2009, the U.S. government has supported the Afghanistan government by obligating almost $88 million to assist in commercializing DABS. U.S. government projects-funded by U.S. Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) focus on assisting DABS in increasing cost recovery, reducing losses, and building its capacity to manage, operate, and maintain a national power system. This report provides information on equipment purchased to support DABS efforts in Kandahar and on fees paid to a USAID contractor. We will address additional findings related to U.S. government projects to assist in DABS commercialization in a forthcoming audit report. WHAT SIGAR RECOMMENDS: To ensure equipment purchased will be used to rebuild, repair, and expand electrical distribution grids, we recommend that the Commanding General, USFOR-A Regional Command-South, determine whether $12.8 million of equipment procured for Kandahar province can and should be installed in Kandahar and either develop a plan for installation or conduct a needs assessment to determine other uses for the equipment. We also recommend that the USAID Mission Director for Afghanistan instruct the missions contracting office to complete a comprehensive assessment of task order deliverables and contractor performance and seek reimbursement for any fixed fee paid in excess of the appropriate amount. USFOR-A and USAID concurred with our recommendations. Comments from both agencies are reproduced in appendices IV and V.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2012
Accession Number
AD1141046

Entities

People

  • John Sopko

Organizations

  • Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Afghanistan
  • Business Administration
  • Contractors
  • Contracts
  • Data Centers
  • Department Of Defense
  • Electrical Equipment
  • Financial Management
  • Governments
  • Infrastructure
  • International Finance
  • Lessons Learned
  • Money
  • Payment
  • Procurement
  • Training

Readers

  • Aerospace Test and Evaluation
  • Government Contracting/Procurement.
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.