Steve Peacock's U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

WND: FBI Plans to Spend $100 Million on Ammo

Though seemingly off-topic for U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor, the FBI's voluminous ammo purchase is worth sharing via this venue, particularly as the bullets could get distributed to "other approved federal government locations" beyond simply FBI facilities.

WND recently reported that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has purchased well over a billion rounds of ammunition over the past year...

But the full impact may not yet have developed, as WND has uncovered plans by the FBI to spend up to $100 million over five years on millions of rounds for its machine guns and pistols.

Read more at WND.com.

Prisons for Haiti: U.S. to Build Two Complexes Near Port au Prince (NEWS BRIEF)

The U.S. Department of State is arranging the construction of two prison facilities outside Haiti's capital of Port au Prince. The project, with an estimated top-cost of $10 million, includes a 150-bed prison and 200-bed womens prison in Petit Goave and Cabaret, Haiti, respectively. State tentatively scheduled a "pre-proposal conference and site visit"  for prospective prison-industry contractors in Port au Prince for February 5-6, 2013.

Source document: Solicitation #SAQMMA13R0067.

FOR ADDITIONAL COVERAGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S LAW ENFORCEMENT/POLICE/PRISONS PAGE.

FOR MORE IN-COUNTRY COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S HAITI PAGE.

ALSO SEE OUR U.S. STATE DEPT. PAGE.

Palestinian Cop-Shop Contract Shrouded in Secrecy

Obama-West Bank tech project details limited

Palestinian police stations in the West Bank soon will undergo modernization of their information technology systems courtesy of the Obama administration, which is arranging to retrofit the law enforcement facilities with new IT equipment.

U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor has discovered, however, that details of the endeavor largely remain shrouded in secrecy.

The U.S. Department of State recently disclosed the $268,000 contract via the FedBizOpps database, where the Monitor located the award during routine research. Despite finding in the database Contract Award no. SGE50012C0109 – which merely refers to Solicitation No. SGE50012R0120 – an exhaustive search produced zero results for the solicitation and supporting records such as a Request for Proposals or a Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition, or JOFOC , document.

The State Department either did not open the endeavor to competitive bidding or simply neglected to publicly make available – as required by federal contracting regulations – an initial solicitation for bids.

Even in the case of the contractor, Excellent Systems Inc., whose location is listed as “Al Falah Building-Fourth floor, Al Quds Street, Ramallah, West Bank” – the Monitor could not locate an Internet presence for the company.

A Google search for Excellent Systems produced a hit reading “Feb 17, 2006. … Our current focus is to implement web-based information portal systems, largely using Microsoft technologies. These are web sites either on the … www.excellentsystems.us/.”

Any attempt to click through to the site, however, only leads to the message “Directory Listing Denied. This Virtual Directory does not allow contents to be listed.”

The West Bank police project is unrelated to other – significantly more costly – U.S.-funded initiatives. As the Monitor recently reported, the Obama administration had separately committed $300 million toward West Bank and Gaza construction projects , expenditures deemed critical toward attaining the “success of a future Palestinian state.”

It is also separately slated an additional $750 million for what is known as the Infrastructure Needs Project Phase II.

The combined value of these initiatives equals about a quarter of U.S. Agency for International Development assistance to the Palestinians since 1994. Indeed, to accommodate the agency’s growing West Bank-Gaza portfolio, USAID recently began a recruitment campaign for a senior technical and policy adviser.

The position is designed “to help strengthen and advance infrastructure development and capacity strengthening,” according to a Personal Services Contract document. The selected individual contractor will serve as the administration’s “primary adviser” on such issues, which the document acknowledged are “often surrounded by an unusually high degree of political sensitivity, especially as they relate to potentially controversial, high profile Middle East peace process issues.”

The adviser will work with key stakeholders within the Palestinian Authority “to help build the institutions and foundational infrastructure of a viable, democratic Palestinian state living in peace and security with Israel.”

“President Obama’s goal of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a core United States (U.S.) national security objective and the long-term focus of the USAID West Bank and Gaza,” it added.

A similar version of this article originally appeared via WND.com Oct. 29, 2012.

U.S. Launches 'Flagship Project' to Reform Mexican Justice System

Continued modernization of the Mexican criminal justice system purportedly will help stem "the drug-fueled violence that has threatened citizens on both sides of the border," according to the Obama Administration. Obama through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) consequently has launched a new program called the Mexico Promoting Justice Project, also known as PROJUST, which will attempt system reform in several Mexican states.

PROJUST will infuse an unspecified level of additional taxpayer dollars to "support comprehensive criminal justice reform that adheres to Mexican and international human rights standards implemented at state and federal levels."

USAID/Mexico seeks to enhance broader U.S. and Mexican government efforts "to mitigate conflict, reduce impunity, and promote a more transparent and efficient justice system." PROJUST specifically will support the Merida Initiative, a partnership the two nations launched in 2008 to share such responsibilities.

The U.S. Congress appropriated $1.6 billion since the initiative started, according to the U.S. Department of State.

PROJUST is considered to be the "USAID flagship project" that will enable the Obama Administration to achieve the following results:

1) Legislative framework enacted for criminal justice reform; and

2) Strengthened institutional and human capacity to implement criminal justice reform.

USAID anticipates awarding a five-year cost reimbursement completion contract for PROJUST, which is expected to begin around July 2013.

Bullets Over Bogota: DEA Flight Unit to Stockpile Ammo

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration tentatively is planning to purchase 121,000 rounds of ammunition specifically for DEA Aviation Division operations in the U.S., the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Afghanistan.

According to a Sources Sought notice that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor located via routine database research, the agency is looking to buy the following quantity and types of bullets:

• 80,000 rounds; .40 Smith & Wesson, full metal jacket (FMJ); 
• 15,000 rounds; .40 Smith & Wesson, jacketed hollow point (JHP);
• 11,000 rounds, 9mm. Luger, FMJ;
• 3,000 rounds; 9mm. Luger, JHP;
• 10,000 rounds; .38 Special wadcutter;
• 2,000 rounds, 38 Special; Hydra-Shok (JHP).

The  ammunition, according to  manufacturer descriptions, is used for defense and target shooting, respectively.

DEA is seeking capability statements from vendors, but has not yet issued a Request for Proposals. Responses are due June 28.

Source document: Solicitation #D-12-HQ-Q-0062.

FOR ADDITIONAL COVERAGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S LAW ENFORCEMENT/POLICE PAGE, DEA PAGE, AND ITS DRUGS PAGE.

U.S. May Pay to Improve Kosovo Commercial Contract Courts

A tentative plan to help the nation of Kosovo to develop a "contract and commercial law framework" has been hatched by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Improvements to the Kosovo court system's ability to enforce contracts and reduce case backload are necessary "if Kosovo hopes to improve the business environment and attract investment," USAID said in a draft Statement of Work (SOW) released this morning.

The main objectives of the Contract Law Enforcement, or CLE, program are to:

(1) to assist Kosovo institutions to improve the enforcement of civil judgments in an effective, efficient and accountable manner; to establish and functionalize the anticipated new enforcement system in Kosovo; and to develop mechanisms to reduce the backlogged enforcement cases in the Kosovo court system; and:

(2) to assist Kosovo to develop and harmonize its commercial law framework and systems; improve the contract enforcement systems and the effectiveness of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms.

The agency is seeking comments on the draft SOW through May 25.

FOR ADDITIONAL REPORTING ON THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, SEE THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

USAID Justice Project Aims to Cut Crime, Boost Economy of El Salvador

A U.S.- funded "Justice Sector Improvement Project" (JSIP) in El Salvador valued at upwards of $25 million is being launched to battle violent crime and simultaneously achieve the goal of improving El Salvador's economy.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) today released a solicitation (#SOL-519-12-000003) governing details of the endeavor, which would be carried out by a private contractor in the violence-plagued Central American nation.

JSIP will take a two-pronged approach, the first component which is called "Criminal Justice Reform and Judicial Transparency." Plus:

There will also be an overarching Citizen Participation Campaign that promotes public oversight and awareness of the reforms taking place under the first two components, as well as a study to inform decisions about future utilization of host government systems.

The document pointed out that the new initiative would build upon a prior Rule of Law project designed to improve El Salvador's judiciary:

To combat criminality and create a climate for economic growth, the government needs an efficient, well-coordinated, and independent justice sector that can act as a real deterrent to crime. One of the greatest challenges of the judiciary is to improve credibility through efficient investigations and prosecution. Without an efficient and independent judiciary, impunity will perpetuate criminal activity and work done in the investigation phases will be lost.

The JSIP is a separate but corollary USAID initiative planned for El Salvador. As U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor  reported late last year, the agency began searching for contractors to carry out a Crime and Violence Prevention Project with a similar potential value of $25 million (Monitor,  12/26/2011). That endeavor likewise builds upon previous regional programs:

In the last four years, USAID has funded three key prevention programs: Crime and Violence Prevention Project (CVPP), currently being implemented by Research Triangle Institute International; the Regional Youth Alliance Project (AJR), currently being implemented by Creative Associates; and, Strengthening the Judicial System project implemented by Checchi Consulting.

At the JSIP program's end, USAID expects to:

increase the Government of El Salvador’s inter-agency cooperation, reduce the current rates of impunity in violent crimes, decrease homicides and robberies through the community policing strategy, and set up the mechanisms and legal framework for increased transparency within the judiciary and to monitor accountability of public officials.

Bids are due June 21.

FOR RELATED COVERAGE, SEE U.S.TRADE & AID MONITOR'S LAW ENFORCEMENT/POLICE ISSUES PAGE.

FOR ADDITIONAL REPORTING ON THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, SEE THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

ALSO SEE THE MONITOR'S EL SALVADOR PAGE.

U.S. Getting Closer to Funding China Enviro Clean-Ups, Brazil Airport and Ukraine '9-1-1' Upgrades

The U.S. government yesterday took the next step towards partly financing environmental cleanup projects in China. As U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor previously reported, the U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) last month issued a Scope of Work related to a series of groundwater remediation initiatives in China—projects for which that nation intend to infuse (USD) $5.5 billion of its own money through 2020 (Monitor, March 16).

Nonetheless, USTDA awarded a $44,000 contract to Ascendant Program Services, LLC, a Bethesda, Md.-based infrastructure consulting firm, to embark upon a "definitional mission," or DM, to China. (Contract award #USTDA-CO201261140).

Despite the seemingly inconsequential price tag of the DM, it is one of several potential exploratory missions for which USTDA might fund—standard steps that the agency typically takes, such as the crafting of next-step “feasibility studies”—before arranging much larger financing of the actual remediation projects.

Ascendant now will travel to Beijing and two other cities that the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection has identified as "priority locations for groundwater and soil remediation projects."

The contract is one of a trio that the company secured from USTDA since last year. The agency awarded Ascendant a $35,000 contract, for example, to perform a feasibility study of an emergency call center project for the Government of Ukraine. 

Likewise, in 2011 it separately awarded it a $50,000 contract to carry out a definitional mission to Brazil, where it was to evaluate possible USTDA funding of airport modernization projects.

As a follow-up measure to that Ascendant mission, the agency last week agreed to give a $485,000 “technical assistance” grant to the Rio de Janeiro State Transport Secretariat toward such airport projects. The Secretariat will not use the money for actual modernization of transportation infrastructure; rather, the funds will help the Rio state authority to “update its statewide airport plan and develop a funding strategy to modernize and expand the state's airport and heliport networks,” USTDA announced.

There is an “urgent need” to fund the project, USTDA justified, as Brazil is experiencing “rapidly increasing air traffic” while also preparing for an influx of visitors due to the upcoming World Cup and Olympic Games.

FOR ADDITIONAL REPORTING ON THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, SEE THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

FOR FURTHER TOPICAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S ENVIRONMENTAL PAGE.

FOR ADDITIONAL REGIONAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S CHINA PAGE,  BRAZIL PAGE, AND UKRAINE PAGE.

2012-2017 Narco-Plant Spraying Contracts: $75 Million

Up to $75 million in contracts in support of U.S. State Dept. crop-eradication initiatives worldwide are expected to be awarded over the next five years. According to a draft Request for Proposals (RFP) dated March 1, State’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is looking for contractors that can provide aircraft equipped with defensive armor protection that are capable of spraying herbicide from altitudes of up to 12,000 feet.

Although the “primary mission is to locate and eradicate illicit narcotic producing plants,” the aircraft will serve a “secondary function as a mission recorder providing a vital database for spray analysis and mission evaluation,” according the draft RFP (Solicitation #SAQMMA12R0125).

Indefinite quantity contracts (IQCs) will be awarded at a minimum of $8 million each. State expects to issue a formal RFP by the end of the month.

FOR RELATED COVERAGE, SEE U.S.TRADE & AID MONITOR'S LAW ENFORCEMENT/POLICE ISSUES PAGE.

FOR ADDITIONAL REPORTING ON THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, SEE THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

ALSO SEE THE MONITOR'S DRUGS PAGE.

Feds Hiring Contractor to Help Fight Crime Across Nation

The U.S. government is reaching out to the private sector for help in implementing a new municipal crime-prevention program across the nation -- across the nation of El Salvador, that is.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) estimates just a $25 million price tag for the "El Salvador Crime and Violence Prevention Project" (Solicitation #SOL-519-12-000002);  it should be noted, however, that the endeavor is only the latest in a series of such multi-year, U.S.- funded initiatives in El Salvador, which the agency says has "one of the highest rates of non-political violence in the world."

In the last four years, USAID has funded three key prevention programs: Crime and Violence Prevention Project (CVPP), currently being implemented by Research Triangle Institute International; the Regional Youth Alliance Project (AJR), currently being implemented by Creative Associates; and, Strengthening the Judicial System project implemented by Checchi Consulting.  Together, these programs have supported the [Government of El Salvador] (GOES) as it improves the capacity of municipal government, civil society and communities to: better analyze crime patterns; plan and implement activities to combat crime and violence; and, measure the impact of interventions.

The selected contractor will be tasked with exploring "the greater use of science and technology to target crime and violence prevention" as well as employing "creative responses and approaches in order to achieve the desired results," according to the Statement of Work (SOW).

Among the results desired for this Central American nation is modifying its Mano Dura, or "Iron Fist," approach to contending with gang violence. USAID says this approach alone will not solve the problem, as heightened investments in law enforcement have taken away from national investments into economic growth.  Likewise, according to the SOW:

The root causes of violence and gang activity are largely understood to include income disparity and issues of significant social inequality...  Additional sources of insecurity include limited employment and education opportunities, large numbers of readily available small arms, rapid and disorganized urban growth without adequate services, and lack of societal support to prevent at risk youth from being recruited into gangs.

USAID expects to award a three-year base contract with two possible option years.

FOR RELATED COVERAGE, SEE U.S.TRADE & AID MONITOR'S LAW ENFORCEMENT/POLICE ISSUES PAGE.

FOR ADDITIONAL REPORTING ON THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, SEE THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

(Image caption: MS-13 gang graffiti in San Salvador.)