Corruption, in Afghanistan?

Corruption is a way of life for Afghans. Whether it's government, contractors, or the Afghan National Police (ANP), corruption keeps money cycling throughout Afghanistan. Without any legitimate form of taxation within Ghazni province, the provincial government must rely on drawing money from contractors, which gives them permission to keep building. The ANP draws money from elders in return for protection of their villages. We know this corruption happens and has been happening in Afghanistan, but we try to minimize its impact. It's not something that we'll be able to correct overnight.

Here was my attempt to reduce some corruption. This dam was completed by the PRT in October of 2008. Since its completion some nearby villagers continued to claim that the dam was unsafe. The contractor who built the dam told me that the villagers were making these claims so that they could extort some money from the contractor. We visited the dam to either put the claims to rest or enforce the contractor to perform corrective actions if the dam was actually unsafe. With the assistance of two dam experts we determined the dam was structurally sound. Take a look for yourself. This looks like one of the best projects in Ghazni. We later told the villagers that the dam was safe and advised them to stop crying wolf.