AAM DISPATCH

Yesterday I went out on a mission with the Paktya Provincial Reconstruction Team. The purpose was to inspect the progress of construction work on several schools in districts near the PRT’s headquarters at FOB (Forward Operating Base) Gardez. These are projects contracted by the PRT, and funded using CERP (Commander’s Emergency Response Program) money. Unlike many past projects where the military or US contractors would do the work, all of these projects were put out to bid to local contractors who hire local workers.

The goal is to provide jobs, empower locals, and ideally, partner with the local government to develop projects that the government wants and will operate and maintain. It’s all part of the development side of counterinsurgency campaign.

The convoy of four MRAPs (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles) departed around 7:30 am, and hit the rough, dusty roads out to the surrounding districts of Ahmad Abad, Sayed Karem, and Gardez. Although road paving is one of the top priorities of the PRT, there was precious little pavement in the area.

First stop was the Balladeh School, an 8-room project. Captain Masuck, the PRT’s chief engineer, oversees these construction projects. He told me that the construction work at this school has not been up to par—some of the mortar, stone, and masonry work has not met the standards of the contract. In addition, a couple of weeks ago, locals found an IED (improvised explosive device) that had been planted in the school.

This is not uncommon. Insurgents have been targeting development projects. To simplify the issue, if US forces and the Afghan government build infrastructure and provide services, the locals will begin to support the government (and US troops) and reject the insurgents. Therefore, it’s a strategic imperative for insurgents to prevent development work.

Captain Masuck toured the school, which to my eyes (that do know a bit about construction) did not look like anything that would be acceptable to a US building inspector. The Captain explained that standards of workmanship do have to be adapted to the local setting, but there are still lines that can’t be crossed, and the Captain has ordered contractors to tear down walls and start over on a number of occasions. He does not authorize payment for work that doesn’t meet minimum standards.
This appears to be a lesson learned from both Iraq and Afghanistan where countless projects (built by the military, US contractors, and locals) didn’t meet reasonable standards, and in a number of cases essentially crumbled. In this case, the Army seems to be working to avoid the often-reported problem of corrupt construction practices – although there is an acknowledgment that there will be some measure of corruption, the challenge is to minimize it.

After walking through the school, the team piled back into the MRAPs and drove off to the next school. Unlike the first location where there were no workers present, a handful of Afghans were working on this school.

The Captain asked them who was in charge. There was no clear answer. But it became clear that there was no one on site who had technical oversight of the workers. The Captain pointed out a number of problems to the workers—incorrect mixtures of cement, bad concrete pours, poor mortar work, and other shortcomings.

He said he’s already talked to the contractor about fixing a number of the problems at the site, and the contractor had yet to resolve the issues.
I asked Captain Masuck if this quality of work was the norm for projects the Afghans did on their own, or if they were cutting corners because this was a US funded project, and they thought they could get away with it. He said that workmanship in general is not fantastic in the country, but when he asked a contractor if they would pay for this kind of work, “he almost always says no.”

For “Gen X” members of the audience, or people who are fans of the movie “Back to the Future”, I couldn’t help but think of the scene at the end of the film when Biff was waxing the McFly’s car. He said he was just finishing the second coat, and when George McFly said, “Now Biff, don’t you con me,” Biff confessed that he was just starting the second coat.

This was the dynamic at the construction sites. The Captain would ask the workers about a wall, and they would say they were filling it with cement. He would then show them gaping holes, or push a nail into the wall to show that there was no mortar, and they’d sheepishly make an excuse about being told to do it that way, or that they were going to patch it, or that some other guy did the work. Often the Captain would say that he was going to tell the contractor about the work, and the wall would have to be torn down and rebuilt.

He said that for the most part they know the standards and the quality of work they should be producing. But again, like Biff in Back to the Future, they like to see what they can get away with.

As frustrating as it could be, Captain Masuck explained that at the end of the day, the workers would learn from the experience, and the project would get done to specifications. Since he was not going to sign off on anything that wasn’t up to code, the contractor would have to keep doing it over at his expense until it was right.
If nothing else, it seemed to be a lesson in accountability lacking in a society that has endured years of war, instability, and corrupt political rule. Accountability is not exactly endemic in Afghanistan.

The day continued along these lines – the PRT convoy would move on from location to location, and Captain Masuck would frown at the quality of the construction work. This is typical for a PRT. Afghanistan is a work in progress (progress being a relative, and perhaps sometimes inaccurate term) at all levels.

But, there is another issue—what happens once the schools are completed? Will there be competent teachers? Will the local government have the capacity to properly administer the schools, pay teachers, and ensure quality in education?

When I ask people these questions, the answers are cautious at best. And like just about every challenge here in Afghanistan, they talk about the the solutions in terms of years, and even generations.

Sean Carberry Afghanistan