US not tracking spending on Afghan projects, audit says
By ANIFriday, October 29, 2010
LONDON - The US government has spent about 55 billion dollars on rebuilding in Afghanistan since 2001, but a government watchdog has said that there is confusion about how the money was spent.
The BBC quoted the special inspector general’s office for Afghanistan reconstruction as saying that there is a “confusing labyrinth” of spending.
According to the report, US government agencies are not tracking Afghan contracts in a shared database and cannot easily show where the money went.
It said some 7,000 contractors received 17.7 billion dollars from 2007-09, but data prior to 2007 was too poor to be analysed.
It is the first comprehensive audit of US spending in Afghanistan since US-led troops ousted the Taliban in 2001.
The Pentagon, state department and USAID “are unable to readily report on how much money they spend on contracting for reconstruction activities in Afghanistan”, said the report from the special inspector general’s office, which was set up by Congress. (ANI)
