Posted on 10/23/2009 12:51:40 PM PDT by BGHater
The State Department’s internal watchdog called yesterday for officials to demand a rebate of more than $132 million from a company that built the massive US Embassy in Baghdad to make up for shoddy work.
In a report, the department’s inspector general said First Kuwaiti Trading & Contracting Co. should be required to pay back roughly a quarter of the $470 million it was awarded to build the sprawling embassy. More than $730 million was spent on the embassy - the largest US diplomatic mission in the world.
The report also took issue with the State Department’s oversight of work at the 104-acre compound, which has fortified working space for 1,000 people and living quarters for several hundred.
“We found that the quality of the [embassy] construction was significantly deficient in multiple areas,’’ the inspector general said.
The report called the construction of the compound in a war zone in 34 months a “significant achievement,’’ but said “considerable construction deficiencies remained because designs for the facilities had not been completed and approved and quality control and commissioning procedures were inadequate.’’
It said the State Department should seek to recover the money because of construction deficiencies, incomplete and undocumented design work, damages, and continuing maintenance costs associated with those issues.
Construction of the embassy, which was finished in April 2008, months after its planned September 2007 completion, was beset by building, logistical, and security hitches that caused major delays. The inspector general’s report was sent to Congress on Wednesday.
In October 2007, the State Department conceded that a host of problems, including major malfunctions in the complex’s physical plant, including electrical and water distribution systems, would push back the embassy opening at least until that spring. Some of those problems recurred.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Isn’t it against the law to use a foreign contractor for a US embassy?
Lol. I doubt that. Cheap labor.
Yup, real cheap.
imported from asia most likely
Well, maybe it should be then. $700+ Million down the drain. The thing is a safety hazard.
Yeah, pretty much, black mold.
Another link to similar story (only available in a cached version):
It was a significant error in this theatre to rely on local contractors for the design of structures to be used by folks accustomed to U.S. standards.
Further, the “owner’s construction representative” was often not qualified. This report strongly suggests such was the case with this project.
And then there was the general attitude, “We cannot expect these people to understand or perform in accordance with our building codes.”
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