WASHINGTON — The U.S. awarded a no-bid, $266 million contract for a lucrative electricity project in southern Afghanistan despite promising last year to seek competitive bids, The Associated Press has learned.
The U.S. Agency for International Development made the change despite criticism over how it has managed billions of dollars spent on reconstruction contracts.
In January 2010, the agency said companies would compete for the project, which was awarded to Black & Veatch Corp. of Overland Park, Kan.
USAID had chastised the company for cost overruns and busted deadlines on a diesel-fueled power plant in Kabul.
The U.S. let 10 months pass before deciding to award a contract without competitive bids, saying it couldn’t spend more time seeking offers.
A rival company that was interested in bidding, Symbion Power LLC of Washington, D.C., said USAID broke its promise and spent more than it should to expand electricity into Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
USAID opted against seeking competitive proposals “to meet the tight timelines required to have an urgent impact,” the agency said in a statement. The Associated Press
