[KhaamaPress] SIGAR in their most recent report said, as of December 2019, US Congress appropriated nearly $134 billion since the 2002 fiscal year for Afghanistan reconstruction, of which $19 billion of the amount reviewed was lost to waste.SIGAR says it has so far investigated more than $63 billion and found that 5 percent, $19 billion dollars were lost to waste and fraud.
"Of that $134 billion amount, SIGAR reviewed approximately $63 billion and found that nearly $19 billion of the amount reviewed was lost to waste, fraud, and abuse," SIGAR stated in the recent report.
SIGAR also noted that the United States provided $15.5 billion in reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan during 2018, of which $3.4 million was wasted to fraud and abuse.
John F. Sopko Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in the statement, That "As promised in our July 2018 response to your request, we have updated the report to provide information on the total amount of waste, fraud, and abuse identified in SIGAR’s 111 published products and 55 closed investigations between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2019".
He further indicated, "$3.4 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse to the previously reported amount based on our review of SIGAR’s published products and closed investigations. Of this total, we specifically identified approximately $1.5 billion in taxpayer funds that we believe were wasted, $300 million that were lost to fraud, and $34 million that we believe were lost due to abuse. The remaining $1.6 billion was allocated to counternarcotics efforts that we believe were wasted".
On the other hand, SIGAR reported, that work through December 31, 2019, resulted in about $3.2 billion in savings for US taxpayers.
SIGAR reported that from the outset, corruption in Afghanistan has been a major concern in reconstruction efforts, and is still rampant in the country.