ElHombre
04-12-2005, 12:13 AM
http://www.indystar.com/articles/6/235817-4276-010.html
U.S. cash goes down the drain in Iraq
Officials say Iraqis have let rebuilt sewage, water and power plants fall back into disrepair.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi officials have crippled scores of water, sewage and electrical plants refurbished with U.S. funds by failing to maintain and operate them properly, wasting millions of American taxpayer dollars, according to interviews and documents.
"This is the antithesis of our base strategy and a waste not only of taxpayer funds, but it deprives the most needy of safe drinking water and of streets free from raw sewerage."
Iraqis are paying the price. Schoolchildren have to step over rancid brown puddles on their way to classrooms. Families swim in, fish from and get their drinking water from the polluted Tigris and Euphrates rivers, leading to high rates of child mortality and waterborne illnesses. People jury-rig pumps in their home to increase water flow -- poisoning the water further by sucking sewage through cracks in the lines.
U.S. officials blame insufficient training, logistical problems and an indifferent work ethic learned under the regime of Saddam Hussein. Iraqis say the Americans excluded them from the early stages of the projects and have not provided adequate funds for upkeep.
The failures have left U.S. and Iraqi officials contemplating a disheartening scenario: After expending billions of dollars and tremendous effort, some of the reconstruction effort quite literally might go to waste. One official involved in reconstruction estimated that "hundreds of millions" had been squandered because of improper operation and maintenance of U.S.-funded projects.
It is the result, some U.S. officials said, of a misguided effort that has put more focus on dirt-turning than developing the skills Iraqis need to operate and maintain expensive equipment.
U.S. cash goes down the drain in Iraq
Officials say Iraqis have let rebuilt sewage, water and power plants fall back into disrepair.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi officials have crippled scores of water, sewage and electrical plants refurbished with U.S. funds by failing to maintain and operate them properly, wasting millions of American taxpayer dollars, according to interviews and documents.
"This is the antithesis of our base strategy and a waste not only of taxpayer funds, but it deprives the most needy of safe drinking water and of streets free from raw sewerage."
Iraqis are paying the price. Schoolchildren have to step over rancid brown puddles on their way to classrooms. Families swim in, fish from and get their drinking water from the polluted Tigris and Euphrates rivers, leading to high rates of child mortality and waterborne illnesses. People jury-rig pumps in their home to increase water flow -- poisoning the water further by sucking sewage through cracks in the lines.
U.S. officials blame insufficient training, logistical problems and an indifferent work ethic learned under the regime of Saddam Hussein. Iraqis say the Americans excluded them from the early stages of the projects and have not provided adequate funds for upkeep.
The failures have left U.S. and Iraqi officials contemplating a disheartening scenario: After expending billions of dollars and tremendous effort, some of the reconstruction effort quite literally might go to waste. One official involved in reconstruction estimated that "hundreds of millions" had been squandered because of improper operation and maintenance of U.S.-funded projects.
It is the result, some U.S. officials said, of a misguided effort that has put more focus on dirt-turning than developing the skills Iraqis need to operate and maintain expensive equipment.