Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Boeing can't deliver a $1.1 billion border fence?

Boeing can't deliver a $1.1 billion border fence?


The Department of Homeland Security's latest version of a border "virtual fence" has suffered another setback — prompting Secretary Janet Napolitano to order a departmentwide reassessment of the program.
Officials expected to have a 17-tower system up and working along 23 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border flanking Sasabe by the end of 2009, but the handover to the Border Patrol has been delayed at least three more months. The Sasabe grid is the first in a series of virtual fences planned for the Southwest border.
In the fall of 2009, Napolitano directed the acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to evaluate the SBInet program, according to a statement e-mailed from Napolitano.
"As his analysis uncovered unacceptable delays, last Friday I ordered a departmentwide reassessment of the program to consider options that may more efficiently, effectively and economically meet our border security needs," Napolitano said in the statement. "Americans need border security now — not 10 years down the road. I am committed to ensuring that our border security programs are timely and cost-effective."
From 2006 through July 2009, Customs and Border Protection paid Boeing Co. $1.1 billion to create and build a border-long network of camera, sensor and radar towers, the Government Accountability Office reported in September.



see org article at....
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/metro/325016.php