Thousands of homes and businesses in Afghanistan’s second-largest city are at risk of plunging into darkness as the US struggles to create reliable sources of electricity in the war-torn country.
In a letter sent earlier this month published Wednesday, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) warned Pentagon and State Department officials of the imminent blackouts, and asked them about plans to secure a power supply for Kandahar City—an industrial hub of almost 500,000 residents in southern Afghanistan, and a regular flashpoint for fighting.
In the correspondence, SIGAR John Sopko cautioned that a failing energy system in Kandahar “could dampen economic growth and negate some of the US government’s counterinsurgency and reconstruction efforts in a region that has been prone to instability.” He described Kandahar City as “the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban insurgency.”
Washington is currently paying to keep the lights on in Kandahar through the maintenance of two 10-megawatt diesel generators—a project known as the Kandahar Bridging Solution that was intended to be a temporary fix. It went operational in 2011.
Sopko also noted, in his exchange with federal officials, that because prior inquiries to agencies involved in reconstruction have been met with “inadequate” responses, he is “unconvinced that there are plans in place to ensure there is a reliable and sustainable power source for this strategically important city.”
USAID is currently working on the construction of a new turbine generator at a nearby dam that could service the city’s energy needs, but SIGAR commented that the project would likely remain incomplete by the end of September, when the Kandahar Bridging Solution is set to wind down.
The watchdog also demanded more information about USAID’s intention over the next few months to solicit proposals on the construction of a solar power system in Kandahar City. Specifically, SIGAR questioned if there’s been an assessment on the viability of such infrastructure in the area, what the source of funding will be for the project, and how the US will provide proper oversight of the project “given the security environment in the Kandahar region and the increasingly limited number of US personnel in Afghanistan.”
SIGAR has often raised concerns that US reconstruction projects are too large for the Afghan government to maintain. In December, it said that Kabul could, slowly and unwittingly to US officials, become a client state for years to come as a result of grandiose US proposals.
