Insecurity, corruption hamper reconstruction effort

Muhammad Khalid, a 42 year-old shopkeeper in Baghdad, is still waiting for compensation for the destruction of his house during the March 2003 US-led invasion of the country. Now living with a relative, and without any finances to rebuild his home, Khalid says he has lost faith in earlier promises of reconstruction. "When they [the US government] were saying that all Iraqis would see their country rebuilt again in less than two years, I believed it," Khalid said. "But it's now three years since the war ended, and I'm still without a house." Like Khalid, thousands of Iraqis are still waiting for compensation packages for losses incurred during the 2003 invasion. According to local government officials, hundreds of schools, public buildings, hospitals, universities and shops are still in desperate need of repair, pointing out that less than 35 percent of projected reconstruction has been achieved to date. US officials, for their part, say progress has been made, albeit slowly, and under difficult circumstances. Meanwhile, the US administration has been plagued with accusations of misspent money. On the third anniversary of the occupation, locals say very little has been done to repair essential infrastructure, such as water and power facilities. Some add that the situation is worse than during the regime of ousted president Saddam Hussein, a view echoed in a February report by the US-appointed special inspector-general for Iraq, Stuart Bowen. In the meantime, locals complain bitterly about the destruction and lack of basic services. "Iraqis like me are living without power, clean water, good sewage systems or a decent education system," Khalid said. Some $32 billion was pledged for reconstruction at an October 2003 donor conference. The US alone has allocated $21 billion to the rebuilding effort, making it the largest contributor. While conceding a degree of progress, one Iraqi official pointed out that many reconstruction projects had been canceled. "A list of 6,000 infrastructure projects that needed to be tackled after the war in 2003 was presented and approved by the US government, focusing on health care and education," said Ahmed Kubba, a senior official in the Ministry of Reconstruction and Development. "Of this number, less than 2,000 have been completed so far, with most being canceled due to financial problems." Kubba went on to point out that only 300 out of 475 initial electricity projects would be completed due to a lack of investment. This means that only 2,200 megawatts of additional power would be delivered, he noted, instead of the 3,400 megawatts originally planned for by the US government. "There are some achievements and some failures, and the achievements are certainly not reaching the expectations that people had three years ago," said Cedric Turlan, information officer for the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq. "The situation is worse than in 2003." There have also been fraud allegations. In February, Robert Stein, who held a senior position in the Coalition Provisional Authority, admitted in a Washington court to stealing more than $2 million, as well as taking bribes in return for contracts. In charge of overseeing infrastructure funds in south-central Iraq in 2003 and 2004, Stein now faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Additionally, some $1 billion is said to have been stolen by Iraqi defense ministry officials, according to the Bowen report. Iraqi citizens, meanwhile, are becoming increasingly disenchanted with the reconstruction effort. "When you walk in the streets of the capital, or in any other Iraqi city, all you can see is destruction and concrete barriers," said Sabah Abdallah, an economist at the Iraqi Ministry of Finance. "There's been little investment in the infrastructure destroyed in the US-led invasion." According to Abdallah, more than 25 percent of all reconstruction funds have been diverted to security-related issues. The economist went on to point to ample evidence of "mismanagement, fraud and incompetence in the reconstruction effort by the US government." Observers say the current security situation represents a worrying development for national reconstruction prospects. "The current environment of violence and lack of stability is very worrying for the future of the local population, who are the first to suffer from the lack of medicine, food and water," said Turlan. "We're very worried for them in terms of health and access to basic needs in some areas, particularly due to the fact that humanitarian operational space, as well as international humanitarian law, are not respected by most parties in the conflict." In February, US officials said the reconstruction of Iraq was being undermined by ongoing insurgent attacks and was now expected to cost more than the $56 billion initially projected for the task.