Wasted Funds? $190 Million Spent, Only 6 Iraq Health Centers Completed

By
JONATHAN KARL
April 19, 2006, 5:51 PM ET
2 min read

April 19, 2006 — -- The buildings -- part of a $190 million project to build health care centers in Iraq -- sit empty, with no windows or doors.

In March 2004, the Pentagon awarded the California-based company Parsons Global a contract to build 150 health care centers throughout Iraq.

Two years later, almost all of them sit idle, including one ABC News visited in the Sadr City section of Baghdad.

Watch Jonathan Karl's exclusive report tonight on "World News Tonight."

According to a government audit obtained by ABC News, only six of the promised health care centers have been completed.

Despite receiving $190 million dollars of taxpayers' money, the company said it couldn't complete the project because of insufficient funding.

The Pentagon has since terminated the contract, citing "lack of sufficient progress by the contractor due to increased security costs and other factors."

'Enough Blame to Go Around'

The government audit of the project makes it clear security costs were not the only problem.

The review places much of the blame on U.S. government mismanagement, including a high turnover of government personnel, a lack of experienced staff and poor decision making.

"You can't simply blame the contractor when in fact the government has a responsibility to make sure that they oversee the project," said Ginger Cruz of the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

"It's incumbent upon the government managers to make the adjustments necessary to ensure that the project does get completed. So, there's enough blame to go around."

One stark example of the confusion involves an order Parsons received to build a clinic in the middle of a pond.

U.S. officials couldn't get the Iraqi Health Ministry to change locations, so the pond had to be drained and then refilled -- wasting time and money.

Officials for Parsons Global declined to be interviewed for this report, but U.S. and Iraqi officials said they still hoped to find a way to finish what was started.