According to information provided to Hasht-e Subh, Afghanistan has signed a new contract “against the principles and procurement policies” with an Emirati company by the order of Mohammad Ashraf Ghani after the cancellation of the contract with Olive Group, which was responsible for securing Afghanistan’s airports. The company had no experience in aviation security and worked in the field of information technology.
The UAE Company is believed to be affiliated with a senior UAE security official who has close ties to former President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani. The company is reportedly involved in his transfer from the Uzbek city of Termez to Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Hundreds of employees of this private company, meanwhile, have not been paid since the fall of the previous government and are in complete disarray. Employees of the company now warn that they will go on strike if their salaries are not paid. These employees provide security and inspection of passengers at Kabul, Kandahar, Balkh, and Herat airports,
However, their subsequent protests for pay have not been successful. The Taliban-led government has taken no action to address their concerns. Sources claim that the political problems in Afghanistan led to the misery of these employees.
Some sources claim that the signing of the contract with the Emirati company was done by direct order of the former president.
With the cancellation of the contract of the “Olive Group” company, the security of the airports was handed over to an Emirati company that operates in the field of information technology. The company had no experience in the field of aviation security. It signed another contract, handing over the security of the country’s important airports to HART. As a contractor with the Emirati company, the HART company was responsible for airport security.
Reports indicate that the Emirati company, affiliated with Sheikh Tahnoon, is a senior security official in the UAE government and that the former president himself has awarded a contract to secure the country’s airspace “contrary to procurement principles.”
Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US envoy to Afghanistan, recently referred to Sheikh Tahnoon in a television interview. Informed sources say that Sheikh Tahnoon had a very close relationship with President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and Hamdullah Muhib, Afghanistan’s former national security adviser and that with his cooperation, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan.
A credible source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Hasht-e Subh that HART, as a contractor with the Emirati company, had sent a request to the Taliban-led government to release its guarantee money from the Afghan government. However, the company’s employees have asked the caretaker government that their salaries should be deducted from the company’s guarantee money.
According to Hasht-e Subh, the aviation security company had more than 1,000 security and administrative staff in four provinces of Afghanistan, but some of its staff have left the country in recent months. The company has about 600 employees in Kabul, about 200 employees in Kandahar, about 140 employees in Balkh, and about 90 employees in Herat province.
Despite the plight of hundreds of the company’s employees in Afghanistan, the corruption has left the problem of employees’ salaries persistent and those who have worked without pay for several months have gone on strike. However, further scrutiny of the Emirati company’s contract with the previous government appears to reveal new angles of corruption.
[box type=”info” align=”alignleft” class=”” width=””]Mohammad Hussein Nikkhah, Hasht-e Subh[/box]