World's Most Expensive Gas Station' Cost Taxpayers $43M

American taxpayers are on the hook for a $43 million gas station constructed in Afghanistan -- a price tag that’s about $42.5 million higher than it should’ve been, and the Department of Defense can’t explain why, according to a new government report.

The DOD charged the American taxpayer $43 million for what is likely the world’s most expensive gas station,” Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction

SIGAR found that in other countries, for example in Pakistan next door, the total cost for constructing a CNG station can be up to $500,000 -- not the astronomical $43 million

The cost of converting local vehicles to be able to use compressed natural gas is reportedly around $700 – a little more than the average annual salary

World's Most Expensive Gas Station' Cost Taxpayers $43M

Ha ha ha


So glad our tax dollars are being put to good use. To quote Julius Levinson from the famous movie Independence Day:

"You don't actually think they spend $20,000 on a hammer, $30,000 on a toilet seat, do you? "

I hope that station has a golden throne room and an endless supply of Icee's.

What do you people think?

I'm sure they constructed it with a $30,000 hammer and installed a $20,000 toilet.

It would be really interesting to see where this money is really funneled.

a reply to: PraetorianAZ

Our government can waste millions of dollars on things like this and not bat an eye. Yet a program like Social Security and Medicare in which millions of elderly people rely on is being threatened.

Of course the DoD can't explain where the money went. Stolen for the black project slush fund.

originally posted by: WeRpeons
a reply to: PraetorianAZ

Our government can waste millions of dollars on things like this and not bat an eye. Yet a program like Social Security and Medicare in which millions of elderly people rely on is being threatened.

That is because people do not matter....greed is a very destructive illness

On topic.....the tax office is just as corrupt as the mafia...in fact they are one in the same

a reply to: eXia7

I'll tell you exactly where it went.

[redacted]

I mean [entire post redacted]

ETA: yeah, gas stations can totally cost that much.

So that is where some of my money is going when I pay taxes? Yet when it comes to anything else we have to fight tooth and nail to get it on the books, resolved, or what have you. Glad to see priorities of money are going in the right direction .

a reply to: SolidFaith

Rule of thumb:

A) Watch how your government spends money.

B) Do the opposite.

For 43 million, it better be full-service (they pump the gas, I sit in the car) -- and my windshield and headlights get cleaned.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Hell, I actually know a guy who will do that for 5 bucks.

I'm shrewd with my 43 million, though.

a reply to: rockintitz

I bet most kids here wouldn't believe that only 20 years ago you never got out of your car at a gas station -- someone actually came out and pumped the gas and ran you card.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

Well that's true because I've never had my gas pumped for me.

How much was $43 million worth back then?

Two gas stations??

funny thing is that the gasstation is destroyed according to Dutch mSM

originally posted by: rockintitz
a reply to: SolidFaith

Rule of thumb:

A) Watch how your government spends money.

B) Do the opposite.

Oh of course, The one main difference is I don't have an endless supply of money like the government thinks it does

I wonder who got $42,500,000 dollars richer...

Oh well. That's 14,166,666 big macs that could've bought.

Or 4,250 of the homes that Utah built for the homeless.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
For 43 million, it better be full-service (they pump the gas, I sit in the car) -- and my windshield and headlights get cleaned.

Ridiculous! They should have to change your headlight fluid aswell.. at LEAST!

But on topic... Americans should stage a tax 'coup' and refuse to fund this bullpoop. I mean it's coming out of your pockets, I don't understand why there isn't mass protests etc etc... Oh wait... Dumbed down tired people can't be bothered with that...

That extra $42.5 Million buys a lot of RAW opium which, when cut and sold on creates a rather large return on investment.

Just sayin'.

This stuff is never incompetence, it's almost always corruption. So who was in charge of this?

According to SIGAR, DOD said the group in charge of the project, the Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO)...

source

Okay, who's that?

The Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO) is a division of the U.S. Department of Defense established in 2006 to stabilize the post-invasion Iraqi economy, reduce unemployment, and attract foreign investors to Iraq. In 2009, TFBSO expanded operations to include Afghanistan.

source

OK. Who was in charge?

TFBSO founder and former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Paul Brinkley described TFBSO stating: "We do capitalism. We’re about helping companies make money."

source

Uh huh, somebody's making money. Who is Paul Brinkley?

Brinkley served as the United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense under Secretaries of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates from 2004 to 2011.

source

I see. Just another neocon spending money with no oversight. So who did Brinkley give this $43 million contract to? Most newspapers don't go that deep and the government report doesn't name names. The DoD gave $800 million to this TFBSO outfit to spend and apparently kept no records at all. source

However it seems it was given to an outfit called "Central Asian Engineering":

The original contract for the station, awarded to Central Asian Engineering, was for $3 million, according to the report. However, between 2011 and 2014, the task force spent $42.7 million on the project, $30 million of which went towards overhead costs, the report states.

sourc e

Hmmm. Did anyone follow up on this? Actually yes, Vice News did:

What we do know is that the Department of Defense awarded an initial $3 million construction contract to Central Asian Engineering — a multi-national construction firm that describes itself as doing "the hardest jobs" in "the toughest places" with "the best people." The company failed to respond to repeated requests from VICE News for comment, and the phone in their DC office did not have an answering machine...

Since SIGAR and the Pentagon were short on details, VICE News called up the filling station in Sheberghan and asked to speak to the manger. He'd never heard of Central Asian Engineering, or Qashqari Oil and Gas Services. He said the station is operational and owned by Afghan Gas Company. The manager estimated that the station now serves around 250 natural gas-converted cars in the province of 500,000...

Afzali speculated that the money for the gas station could have found it's way into the hands of some unsavory characters, which could explain why the Pentagon is so reluctant to get into the details. "Handing over large sums of money to powerful local warlords has been a norm rather than an exception," he said.

source

Afghan listing for "Central Asian Engineering"

Best guess? Most of that money went in bribes to Afghan warlords.

a reply to: SolidFaith

Because you live within the means that you provide for yourself.

Government is the only institution that's allowed to break that rule.

Really makes ya sick doesn't it... Really get pissed that nothing is done about it. Yet the US won't even provide free healthcare to their citizens. Time for another revolution. a reply to: Nicorette