Afghanistan aid falls short: report

Western have failed to deliver US$10 billion in promised aid to Afghanistan, undermining prospects for peace that depend on development, according to a report released yesterday.

About percent of the aid that does arrive returns to rich countries in corporate profits and high consultant costs, according to the Agency Coordinating Body For Afghan Relief (ACBAR) report.

The funds going towards reconstruction are, meanwhile, just "a fraction" of military expenditure, with US$25 billion spent on security-related assistance, such as building the Afghan security force, since 2001.

The US military spends about a US$100 million a day in Afghanistan, while the average volume of international aid from all donors since 2001 is just US$7 million a day, the ACBAR document Falling Short says.

The international community had pledged US$25 billion to Afghanistan since 2001, when the Taliban government was removed from power.

However, "just US$15 billion in aid has so far been spent, of which it is estimated a staggering 40 percent has returned to donor countries in corporate profits and consultant salaries," it says.

Most full-time foreign consultants working for private companies in Afghanistan cost US$250,000 to US$500,000 a year, including salary, allowances and associated costs, ACBAR says.

The US is the biggest donor to Afghanistan, contributing one-third of all aid since 2001.

But it also has one of the biggest shortfalls, with the Afghan government saying it delivered only half of its US$10.4 billion commitment between 2002 and this year, ACBAR says.

The World Bank was listed as distributing just over half of its US$1.6 billion commitment, while Britain has pledged US$1.45 billion and distributed US$1.3 billion.

Meanwhile, construction on a section of road in southern Afghanistan was halted when a suspicious package was spotted. In Kandahar Province the threat from Taliban-linked militants cannot be underestimated, especially when foreign troops are present, like the Canadian soldiers behind the road project.

"A package was dropped where both Canadian and Afghan soldiers work with locals," said Captain Eghtedar Manouchehri, head of a Canadian base nearby. "It prevented the work today because we saw very suspicious activity."

In the end, it turned out to be nothing more than an ordinary bundle.

But the troops cannot be too careful with Taliban militants fashioning various forms of improvised explosives to use in their battle against the Afghan government and nearly 70,000 international soldiers supporting it.

It was the first time since the beginning of the project last month that construction was halted on the 6.5km section of road outside the hamlet of Bazaar-i-Panjwayi, said project director Captain Pascal Blanchette.

There have, however, been other incidents at the project 40km west of the city of Kandahar, one of the most volatile areas of Afghanistan.

"We have already been fired on once and we found knives on workers, which is not allowed," Blanchette said.

The construction, expected to cost US$4.5 million -- making it the largest development project undertaken by the Canadian military in Afghanistan -- should be completed in October.