The U.S. Department of Defense
spent nearly $43 million on a gas
station in northern Afghanistan and
has been unable to explain why it
cost so much, a U.S. special
inspector reported on Monday.
The Pentagon “charged the American
taxpayers $43 million for what is
likely to be the world’s most
expensive gas station,” said John
Sopko, head of the Special Inspector
General for Afghanistan
Reconstruction, a congressionally
mandated body. The amount was
spent between 2011 and 2014 on
construction and initial
implementation of the station.
The gas station in Sheberghan,
Afghanistan opened in 2012 and was
created to show that compressed
natural gas could be used in
Afghanistan in cars effectively.
However, the task force behind the
project closed operations in March
and for that reason, according to the
report, the Department of Defense
said it did not possess “the
personnel expertise to address these
questions.”
“Frankly, I find it both shocking and
incredible that (the Defense
Department) asserts that it no longer
has any knowledge,” the report said.
It added that the task force reported
directly to the Office of the Secretary
of Defense and was an $800 million
program.
The report found that a compressed
natural gas filling station in
neighboring Pakistan costs no more
than $500,000 to construct. That
would make the gas station in
Afghanistan more than 140 times
more expensive.
A Defense Department spokesman
said the Pentagon continues to
provide access to documents to
SIGAR through a reading room.
“Further, we have offered to assist
SIGAR in locating and contacting any
former TFBSO (Task Force for
Business and Stability Operations)
personnel they wish to interview,”
said Army Lieutenant Colonel Joe
Sowers.
Nearly $110 billion have been
appropriated in Washington for
reconstruction in Afghanistan since
2002, when U.S. forces drove the
Taliban from power for harboring
militants from al Qaeda, which
carried out the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks.
The US government spent more than $40 million (~ Ksh.4 Billion building a gas station in Afghanistan
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[li][LIST][/li][li]Mr Obama said while corruption was a universal problem and not unique to Kenya, The fact is, too often, corruption is tolerated here in Kenya because people think that is how things have always been done. [/li][/ul]
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Dont joke with tenderpreneurs!!!
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Sure it’s not a blacksite? Napita tu:rolleyes:
Corruption exists everywhere, it cost the US govt over $10,000 to transport fuel only 500 meters from the fuel point.