Rebuilt Iraq Projects Found Crumbling
By JAMES GLANZ
New York Times
In a troubling sign for the American-financed rebuilding program in Iraq, inspectors for a federal oversight agency have found that in a sampling of eight projects that the United States had declared successes, seven were no longer operating as designed because of plumbing and electrical failures, lack of proper maintenance, apparent looting and expensive equipment that lay idle.
The United States has previously admitted, sometimes under pressure from federal inspectors, that some of its reconstruction projects have been abandoned, delayed or poorly constructed. But this is the first time inspectors have found that projects officially declared a success — in some cases, as little as six months before the latest inspections — were no longer working properly.
The inspections ranged geographically from northern to southern Iraq and covered projects as varied as a maternity hospital, barracks for an Iraqi special forces unit and a power station for Baghdad International Airport.
At the airport, crucially important for the functioning of the country, inspectors found that while $11.8 million had been spent on new electrical generators, $8.6 million worth were no longer functioning.
At the maternity hospital, a rehabilitation project in the northern city of Erbil, an expensive incinerator for medical waste was padlocked — Iraqis at the hospital could not find the key when inspectors asked to see the equipment — and partly as a result, medical waste including syringes, used bandages and empty drug vials were clogging the sewage system and probably contaminating the water system.
(Continued here.)
New York Times
In a troubling sign for the American-financed rebuilding program in Iraq, inspectors for a federal oversight agency have found that in a sampling of eight projects that the United States had declared successes, seven were no longer operating as designed because of plumbing and electrical failures, lack of proper maintenance, apparent looting and expensive equipment that lay idle.
The United States has previously admitted, sometimes under pressure from federal inspectors, that some of its reconstruction projects have been abandoned, delayed or poorly constructed. But this is the first time inspectors have found that projects officially declared a success — in some cases, as little as six months before the latest inspections — were no longer working properly.
The inspections ranged geographically from northern to southern Iraq and covered projects as varied as a maternity hospital, barracks for an Iraqi special forces unit and a power station for Baghdad International Airport.
At the airport, crucially important for the functioning of the country, inspectors found that while $11.8 million had been spent on new electrical generators, $8.6 million worth were no longer functioning.
At the maternity hospital, a rehabilitation project in the northern city of Erbil, an expensive incinerator for medical waste was padlocked — Iraqis at the hospital could not find the key when inspectors asked to see the equipment — and partly as a result, medical waste including syringes, used bandages and empty drug vials were clogging the sewage system and probably contaminating the water system.
(Continued here.)
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1 Comments:
Duh !
Remember in October of 2003 when some in Congress actually wanted to “loan” the monies for Iraq reconstruction but Bush demanded a “grant”? Even some Republicans voted against the President.
Here are some quotes at the time.
"There have been so many instances where the money has been misspent," said Rep. James Walsh, R-N.Y., a member of the Appropriations Committee. "We have to keep our hands as deep in this as possible, and that means having strict oversight, because when the stories about $500 hammers come out, I am going to be the one who is going to get hell to pay for it" from constituents.
Tom Petri (R-WI) questioned how effectively the U.S. can spend the money. "Who's going to own it and manage it? " Petri said of the rebuilt infrastructure in Iraq. He said his fear is that "if it's not well thought through, it's basically frittered away, and then (will be) serving as another argument for, 'We should throw even more money at the problem. ' Petri also expressed exasperation over what he said was a lack of information from the administration about how the aid would be structured, including ownership and authority over the infrastructure that will be rebuilt with U.S. money. "I asked to be briefed by OMB (Office of Management and Budget) on how this was going to be structured. They said, 'We don't want to get into that. Please just support the program.' I think I'm supposed to ask a few questions in this world," he said.
"The Administration's attempt to rebuild Iraq ... has been failing because it has not concentrated on building capacity in Iraq," Sam Farr D-CA said. "Rather, this bill awards contracts to companies politically friendly to the president, and fails to insist on full disclosure of how that money is being spent. "
So, now the “successful projects” may not be really successful? Anyone surprised? Maybe if it was a “loan” there would have been more ownership. The ineptness of this administration is on display everyday … and the blame needs to be extended to the Republican controlled Congress that abdicated their oversight authority.
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