BAGHDAD, April 28 (UPI) -- U.S. inspectors in Iraq have found significant problems with reconstruction projects in Iraq, including plumbing and electric failures and apparent looting.
Inspectors from the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction sampled eight projects the United States had branded as successes and found seven were no longer operating as designed, The New York Times reported Saturday.
In addition to plumbing and electrical failures and evidence of looting, the inspectors noted lack of proper maintenance and expensive equipment sitting idle.
In some cases, projects had been declared successes as little as six months prior to the inspections that revealed failures, the newspaper said.
The inspections involved U.S.-financed projects in various regions of Baghdad, including a maternity hospital, barracks for an Iraqi special forces unit and a power station for Baghdad International Airport.
Inspectors said that while $11.8 million had been spent on new electrical generators at the airport, $8.6 million worth were no longer functioning.
"These first inspections indicate that the concerns that we and others have had about the Iraqis sustaining our investments in these projects are valid," said Stuart W. Bowen Jr., who heads the office of the special inspector general.
