The Pentagon on Wednesday named a new group of seven US and British contract winners to manage the rebuilding of Iraq, kicking off a fresh phase of US-funded reconstruction plans.
The deals cover the management of programs in six sectors from oil to electricity and are the first in a clump of about $5 billion worth of work, the bulk of which are major construction contracts set to be awarded later this month.
AECOM of Los Angeles, California, was awarded a $21.6 million contract to oversee the six sector program management offices and co-ordinate among them, the Pentagon said in a statement.
Iraq Power Alliance Joint Venture, a joint venture between Parsons Energy and Chemicals Group of Reading, Pennsylvania, and Parsons-Brinkerhoff Ltd of Britain was awarded a $43.4 million deal to oversee electrical work, seen as key to making Iraq more stable.
Foster Wheeler of Britain was awarded an $8.4 million contract to oversee the oil sector. Bermuda-based Foster Wheeler Corp is an international engineering group listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
CH2M Hill/Parsons, a joint venture between CH2M Hill of Englewood, Colorado, and Parsons Water Infrastructure Inc of Pasadena, California, won a $28.5 million deal to oversee public works and water sector work.
Berger/URS, a joint venture between the Louis Berger Group, Inc of Washington, D.C. and a URS Group Inc of San Francisco, California, got an $8.5 million contract for transportation and communication project management plus a separate contract, of the same size to oversee security and justice-related work.
San Francisco-based URS Corp is an international construction planning and management company listed on the NYSE.
Berger/URS also won a $10.8 million contract to handle the buildings and health sector program management office.
Mike O'Brien, Britain's minister of state for trade and investment, said he was pleased that of the seven contracts awarded, two winning consortia involved British partners - Foster Wheeler and Parsons-Brinkerhoff in the power sector. A third, Halcrow, is acting as sub-consultant in the water sector.
"This is only the first stage. The UK has considerable expertise in infrastructure work, which is the focus of the second round of these awards," O'Brien said in a statement.
Major construction deals involving 10 more contracts, which make up the nearly $5 billion to be allocated in this round, are to be announced in the coming weeks.
Briefing reporters at the Pentagon ahead of the contract awards, retired Admiral David Nash said his Program Management Office was on target for the deals, which are restricted to firms from nations that supported the US war effort in Iraq. "Everything is moving very nicely and on schedule and the awards should be made soon," said Nash, whose office reports to the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.
Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita told reporters it was likely more countries would have access to US-funded contracts but no final decision had been made.
Funding for these contracts comes from $18.6 billion appropriated by Congress to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure.
Contracting in Iraq has been controversial, particularly during a US presidential election year with Democrats accusing the Republican Bush administration of rewarding its friends.
The most lucrative contracts in Iraq so far have gone to Vice President Dick Cheney's old company, Halliburton Co, which is subject to a criminal investigation over whether it overcharged for fuel delivered to Iraq.
The bidding process has also come under criticism and last week the US Army cancelled a $327 million contract given to McLean, Virginia-based Nour USA to equip Iraq's Army after losers protested the deal. Nour's chairman is a close friend of Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi.
On Thursday, Nash and other senior US officials involved in contracts in Iraq are set to answer questions at a House of Representatives committee hearing on the topic.
Comments
Comments are closed.