Afghan power plant hit by new allegations of impropriety

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Afghan power plant hit by new allegations of impropriety
By Marisa Taylor, McClatchy Newspapers
Stars and Stripes online edition, Friday, February 12, 2010

WASHINGTON — A $300 million power plant project in Afghanistan that's paid for by American taxpayers and plagued by delays and cost overruns is now under scrutiny because of allegations that a security contract was awarded improperly.

U.S. officials are looking into whether the power plant's security manager, who had a role in awarding the subcontract, had a conflict of interest because he once worked for the winning bidder, London-based Blue Hackle.

Two earlier U.S. government inquiries concluded that unnecessary construction delays led to $40 million in cost overruns by the plant's two contractors, U.S.-based Black & Veatch and Louis Berger.

A separate government audit recently found that the U.S. has spent more than $732 million to improve Afghanistan's electrical grid since 2002, but delays and rising costs have plagued many of the projects, including the plant, in part because of poor oversight by Washington.

The conflict-of-interest allegations against the security official are outlined in a complaint filed with Black & Veatch by Hart, a Cyprus company that previously had provided security for the construction site.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=67984