US Defense Logistics Agency begins sale of excess non-military property to Afghans

Photo By Maj. Devon McRainey | An Afghan driver watches as Defense Logistics Agency personnel load a forklift purchased by his company onto his flatbed truck on Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, June 25, 2014, during the first white goods sale in the country. (DoD photo by U.S. Army Capt. Devon McRainey/Released)  

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AFGHANISTAN

06.25.2014

Story by Capt. Devon McRainey 

AFN Afghanistan

BAGRAM AIR FIELD Afghanistan – This week, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) met with a commercial Afghan company in Bagram to conduct the first sale of useable non-military vehicles, appliances, and furniture no longer needed by the U.S. government. DLA is responsible for the disposition of excess property received from the military services.

The sale of the items, known as “white goods,” will provide regional economic stimulus to the Afghan economy and help the U.S. government avoid property disposal costs usually associated with the scrapping process, said DLA Sales Contracting Officer Ron Williams.

Included in the sale were a variety of previously used, commercial off-the-shelf items such as pneumatic tools, air conditioning units, office furniture, tractors, water trucks, forklifts and construction machinery. Many of the basic life support equipment items available, like shower and bath trailers, are no longer needed due to changing force requirements.

“The items that are being sold, once imported into the country of Afghanistan, are items that can be resold and have economic value to the buyers. They will pick up the items and either sell them outright or will use them in their own business to gain some type of economic benefit from it,” said Williams.

In January, the sales contracts were advertised under a competitive sale bidding process on the federal government contracting web site. The criteria for contract awards required that the company must be based in Afghanistan, was owned 100 percent by Afghan citizens, and submitted the highest bid as a percentage of the property’s acquisition value.
 

The sale saw the release of property to a local Parwan Province company and included a shower and bath trailer, two water trucks, a forklift and two Ditch Witch trenching machines. After DLA releases property, a buyer must take it to an Afghan Inland Customs Depot for assessment and valuation.

“The most important effect of the sale is the economic stimulus to the Afghan economy and the goodwill that we are fostering with the Afghan government and local businesses,” said Williams. “The sale also allows us to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars as we are able to recover more money by selling the items than we would by turning them into scrap and selling them by the pound.”

The Bagram sale is the first of several planned white good sales at U.S. sites across Afghanistan.

This release includes material provided by the Defense Logistics Agency.

• Date Taken: 06.25.2014
• Date Posted: 06.28.2014 06:44
• Story ID: 134796
• Location: BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF
• Hometown: BATTLE CREEK, MI, US