Unidentified prisoner at Baghlan prison in Northern Afghanistan.
On June 3, 2014 I received an email communication from Alex Bronstein-Moffly , Deputy Director of Public Affairs
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction dealing with systemic problems in connection with a prison “building project” funded through the State Department to the tune of $113 million that resulted in a host of problems and quality control issues.
It read as follows:
“Today, SIGAR released an inspection of the State Department funded $11.3 million Baghlan prison. Among the report’s findings:–After construction of the prison, serious structural damage occurred.
–Construction deficiencies may be the result of fraudulent actions by a former embassy employee & contractor personnel.
–State Dept’s apparent reluctance to use reinforced masonry to rebuild the prison presents a safety risk to prisoners & workers, and increases risk of prisoner escape.
–Contractor invoiced $170,400 for a security fence & stormwater management system that was never built.
–Prison located in the second-highest earthquake zone.
–Despite extensive structural damage, the prison is currently being used and is overcrowded.
–Prison facing major maintenance issues due to poor or non-existent maintenance by Afghan government.
Report: http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/inspections/SIGAR-14-62-IP.pdf
Prison Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sigarhq/sets/72157643305304265/
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need any additional information.
Best,
Alex”
Source: Email communication
NOTE: More than $100 billion in U.S. taxpayer money and counting: how billions of dollars for Afghan reconstruction were mismanaged and how billions more will flow, even after U.S. troops are gone.
A follow up email revealed that the prison in Baghlan province built to house nearly 500 inmates is already falling apart — before it has even opened.
Costing more than $11 million in American taxpayer money, it was built on a seismic fault line, without any safeguards.
The construction, warns an independent government watchdog, is so bad at least one building has already been demolished. In a
letter Wednesday to the State Department, John F. Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, warned that any further construction using unsteady materials could “threaten employee and prisoner safety and the security of the facility.”
