The money requested for rebuilding Iraq seems excessive, even to many politicians.Contractors deny any gouging, padding or featherbedding.
"This is a low-margin business, very competitive," said Bob Band, president and CEO of the Perini Corp., which holds a $66 million Pentagon contract for restoring electric power in Iraq. [Seattle Times]
The evidence appears to contradict that claim.
In northern Iraq, for example, U.S. Army commanders seeking to rebuild a local cement plant were told by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, working with American contractors, that the job would cost $15.1 million. Instead, the Army commanders turned to local Iraqis, who got the job done for $80,000, [Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. ] said. [Seattle Times]
Congress is trying their best to find out who is raking in the dough and how much is being raked in, but without much success:
Luke Zahner, a spokesman for the U.S. Agency for International Development, said that under federal acquisition regulations, the agency cannot release "cost breakdowns, profits or similar information" contained in its Iraq reconstruction contracts. [Seattle Times]
In the meantime, the beat goes on.
USAID has hired yet another contractor for $15 million to monitor other contractors' work. [Seattle Times]
Let your Congressman know what you think, one way or the other.
Article comments
1 - jadester
well, now i don't know what to believe. The story I heard before was that some iraqi company could rebuild a major bridge (or bridges) for about $80000 but some us company that said it'd cost millinos got the job instead.
No matter, it still shows that those companies that did get contracts purely due to links with the honourable president bush (er, i mean because they are outstanding companies who'd jump at the chance to do anything humanitarian even if it meant no profit for themselves) were ripping off the us
2 - Hal Pawluk
Given the other prices (over-)paid for items in Iraq, your bridge story could well be true, too.
From the Washington Post: Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) catalogued some of the items in Bush's Iraq request, including $3.6 million for 600 radios and phones, at $6,000 apiece; 80 pickup trucks at $33,000 apiece; $40 million for a $333-a-month computer training course that would cost $100 to $200 at a U.S. community college; and a $10,000-per-month business school that is twice the monthly cost of the Harvard Business School. http://makeashorterlink.com/?T47324E46