(MENAFN- Daily Outlook Afghanistan) KABUL - National Procurement Authority (NPA) officials said Saturday thattheir office will approve the purchase of fuel for Da Afghanistan BreshnaSherkat, also known as DABS, the utility provider struggling to provideelectric power after insurgents damaged pylons that brought electricity fromUzbekistan. The attack occurred on September 15, and Kabul and many provincesfaced blackouts because of the damaged lines.
'The process phase for oil required by DABS has been completed and is readyto submit to the National Procurement Authority, the NPA spokesman Ahmad RaminAyaz said.
The approval by the NPA may come as no surprise to many Afghans, who, inthe midst of a nationwide power outage, read US Ambassador John Bass' September18 tweet (which was reported on by Afghan media):
'Hearing reports the National Procurement Authority won't authorize fuelpurchases for the power plant providing the only electricity in Kabul—evenwhile the US & Resolute Support [US/NATO military mission] help Afghansecurity forces enable repairs to transmission lines. Could this be true?
Two days later US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced that the USwill be withholding funds planned for Afghanistan because of a lack oftransparency and accountability.
Pompeo specifically mentioned the NPA in his statement, faulting it for its'lack of transparency, and in the next sentence he revealed the US would bewithholding $60 million of planned financial assistance from the Afghangovernment.
(Also, the Afghan Monitoring and Evaluation Committee will lose all USfunding at the end of the calendar year. And funding for an energyinfrastructure project in southern Afghanistan will continue, but not with theoriginal $100 million earmarked, and not through the usual channels ofdisbursement.)
'Afghan government institutions and leaders must be transparent andaccountable to the Afghan people. We stand against those who exploit theirpositions of power and influence to deprive the Afghan people of the benefitsof foreign assistance, Pompeo said in the statement.
'It has caused the international community to no trust us; the procurementauthority action looks like a medicine that doesn't help us. Because aid wascut off, the international community mistrusts us and it is a blow to thenation, not the rulers, said Naqibullah Hashimi, a former member of the Kabulprovincial council.
'Reclaiming $160 million and not paying it back to the Afghan governmentdoes not help clean up the system, but it may be a strong warning to thosegovernment officials in Afghanistan to do their work transparently, quickly andeffectively, political analyst Dawar Nadi said.
Spokespeople for Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), say that theircompany asked the National Procurement Authority five months ago to purchasefuel.
'Because of urgency it needed to be purchased, but it is natural that theprocurement authority has its own processes, DABS spokesman Wahidullah Tawhidisaid. (Tolo news)
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