Only 57% of CERP Funds Spent in Past Six Years

Members of Congress and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) are puzzled why the Department of Defense keeps asking for more money to spend in Afghanistan on reconstruction and development when their track record for spending Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP) funds is less than stellar. According to records only 57% of the CERP funding has been spent over the past six years. There are some camps that believe CERP is an outdated process and that money should be funneled through the Afghan ministries or go to big projects. However, there are others that say CERP is the way to go as it is for small projects with an immediate impact that can be completed in a timely fashion with less opportunity for corruption. Read more in "Watchdog: US reconstruction funds go unspent in Afghanistan", Stars and Stripes, January 23, 2014. Read the letter from SIGAR to COMISAF regarding a request for information about the Commander's Emergency Response Program in Afghanistan. The letter mentions that only $43.5 million of $200 million appropriated for CERP were obligated by DoD before the funds expired.