Administrative costs high in Iraq

[cal04]

Administrative costs for a handful of reconstruction projects in Iraq ate up 11 percent to 55 percent of the total costs and were not monitored well by officials there, according to a government audit.

The audit, done by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, looked at a number of contracts and detailed five totaling $1.3 billion. It found that more than $460 million was spent on overhead costs, including transportation, mobilization, administration, personnel support and security.

The report suggested that some of the costs may be underestimated because the government did not consistently track the administrative amounts or require companies to report them in the same way. Congress has approved $18.4 billion in reconstruction money for Iraq.

(snip)
Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root accrued the highest percentage of overhead costs — billing the government for $163 million, or 55 percent of its total contract cost, the audit found. Parsons Iraq Joint Venture, a second company, had overhead costs equaling nearly $134 million, or 43 percent of its total project cost.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061025/ap_on_go_ot/iraq_reconstruction_audit_1

Parsons also is part of a joint venture with Worley Group of Australia performing up to $800 million worth of work to restore Iraq's northern oil infrastructure.

[bronxiteforever]

1. Congressional Oversight is greatly needed here to stop

the GOP war profiteers.