Poor maintenance—or no maintenance—of billions of dollars worth of U.S.-funded highways in Afghanistan built over the past decade now threatens the country's economic development and even the stability of its government, says a federal watchdog agency.
In an Oct. 27 report to Congress, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) says that, despite nearly $3 billion of investment in new highways in the country since about 2002 by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Defense Dept., more than half its road infrastructure "suffered from poor maintenance and required rehabilitation beyond simple repairs," based on a USAID assessment. SIGAR points to continuing security issues, lack of funding, weak capacity and corruption among local agencies charged with upkeep, particularly the Ministry of Public Works.