ISLAMABAD, Pakistan- A $46 million American development program in Pakistan's tribal regions along the Afghan border has made little progress since it was launched in 2008, according to a U.S.government audit.
The finding illustrates the challenges facing Washington as it tries to boost civilian aid there to blunt the appeal of al-Qaeda and the Taliban
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The audit, dated Thursday and posted on the Web site of the U.S. Agency for International Development, found that "little real progress" toward the program's stated goals had been made in the first 22 months of the 36-month program. It said the program so far had spent only $15.5 million.
The program, audited by the office of the inspector general, was set up to strengthen government institutions and local aid groups in the tribal regions. It is to train staff, install computer systems, and run projects to ensure future aid money is spent more effectively.
The audit said work had been slowed by the deteriorating security situation in the northwest. All foreign staff working on U.S. government projects were withdrawn from the northwestern city of Peshawar after a U.S. aid worker was killed there in 2008, making work much more difficult.
It said a plan to install computers and train staff to use them at the tribal region's secretariat in Peshawar had barely gotten off the ground.
It noted that 340 of the 400 computers delivered there remained in boxes.
The audit did mention some successes for the program, such as the creation of a public outreach campaign promoting peace and 74 project and financial management training events held for 1,000 government workers.
The program is being run by Development Alternatives Inc., an American firm that won the contract offered by USAID.
In part the audit blamed a new U.S. government initiative to direct money through the Pakistani government and local aid groups, not foreign for-profit contractors such as DAI.
The shift is an effort to address local demands that as much money as possible is spent locally and thus stays in the country.
As a result of the new strategy, it said DAI did not know whether its contract would be terminated, and many key activities were put on hold.
The audit said the contractor had requested $15 million in June 2009 from the government to continue its work but was given $4.7 million.
In the border region yesterday, security forces battled extremists for a third day and the Pakistani government said 44 suspected insurgents were killed.
The clashes were taking place in Bajur, an area the Pakistani army declared free of extremists in early 2009 after a major offensive.
There was no independent confirmation of the fighting or the identities of the dead in Bajur, a tribal region where al-Qaeda and Taliban have long had a presence.
Pakistan has launched a series of operations against extremists in the tribal regions, pushing them back in some areas.
But the United States wants the army to continue pressing the fight because Taliban fighters in Afghanistan use the region as a base from which to attack NATO and U.S. forces.
It says stabilizing Pakistan and getting it to crack down on extremists in the northwest is key to success in Afghanistan, where Washington is sending 30,000 extra troops in a final attempt to turn around the war.
As well as urging force, the Obama administration has authorized the dispersal of $7.5 billion in development assistance from American taxpayers over the next five years to convince Pakistanis their interests are best served by the state, not by extremists.
Source:philly.com/
