Contractors See Risks in Getting Security from Afghans
February 23, 2012
Starting March 20, U.S. contractors doing reconstruction work in Afghanistan will be required to get their security services from a new Afghan government agency.
But contractors are complaining the Afghan agency is charging them excessively high fees for security and putting U.S. contractors at risk by refusing to abide by required federal contracting practices.
As a result, doing business with the new security organization — called the Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF) — could force contractors to violate U.S. contracting rules and thus become vulnerable to federal suspension and debarment.
The APPF has so far refused to accept standard subcontracting clauses, such as prohibitions on human trafficking, officials with the Professional Services Council trade association say.