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At New US Embassy In Iraq, Even Some Kitchens Are Fire Hazards    [

    White House Blocks Inquiry Into Construction of $736 Million Embassy in Iraq
    By Elana Schor
    The Guardian UK

    Friday 29 February 2008

    The Bush administration is blocking an inquiry into the delay-plagued construction of the $736 million US embassy in Baghdad, a senior Democrat in Congress said today.

    Henry Waxman, who is chairman of the oversight committee in the House of Representatives, asked US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice today to explain why her department certified the embassy as "substantially completed" in December despite inspections that reveal continued deficiencies in the facility's water, fire alarm and kitchen systems.

    The Baghdad embassy, which stands to become the largest US diplomatic facility in the world, had an original opening date of mid-2007. But the project stalled amid ballooning cost estimates as well as charges of corruption and shoddy work by the private contracting company overseeing the project.

    In addition, two US state department employees who worked on the embassy project are now under criminal investigation. Waxman urged Rice to release subpoenaed documents related to the Baghdad embassy project next week or risk being forced to do so.

    "It appears that the state department is concealing from Congress basic information about the status of the embassy project and the activities of the individuals and contractors involved," Waxman wrote to Rice. "This continued intransigence is inappropriate."

    The private construction company, First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting, declined repeatedly to provide safety inspectors with reports on fire protection systems at the embassy, according to reports released by Waxman. First Kuwaiti, based in Kuwait, remains the target of a separate US criminal probe into allegations of labour trafficking.

    The state department has not yet received Waxman's letter but plans to address the Democrat's concerns by his March 7 deadline, spokesman Tom Casey told reporters today.

    Casey defended the delay in construction of the embassy, asserting that the building would not be occupied until its fitness for use could be certified.

    "[W]e certainly have no intention of taking occupancy or establishing occupancy in a facility that doesn't fully meet all our standards," Casey said. He reminded reporters that First Kuwaiti is required under its contract to bear the cost of any needed additional work.

    The new director of building operations at the state department has ordered a review of the embassy project and may revoke the building's "substantially completed" certification, McClatchy news service reported this week.

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    At New US Embassy In Iraq, Even Some Kitchens Are Fire Hazards
    By Warren P. Strobel
    McClatchy Newspapers

    Friday 29 February 2008

    Washington - None of the 26 buildings in the new $740 million U.S. Embassy complex in Baghdad is ready to be occupied. Fire alarms intended to safeguard more than 1,000 U.S. government employees aren't working. Kitchens in some of the buildings are fire hazards.

    A senior State Department official in December certified that embassy construction was "substantially complete," but department inspectors found "major deficiencies" at the unoccupied embassy, according to their inspection report, which Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., released Friday.

    McClatchy reported earlier this week that the new chief of the State Department's embassy-building arm, Richard Shinnick, has voided the Dec. 16 certification - made under his predecessor, retired Army Gen. Charles Williams - that the embassy is nearly ready to be occupied.

    In a blistering letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Waxman, who chairs the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, accused the State Department of withholding documents about the troubled project.

    "It appears that the State Department is concealing from Congress basic information about the status of the embassy project and the activities of officials and contractors involved. This continued intransigence is inappropriate," wrote Waxman, who threatened to haul Rice's deputy before his panel.

    The new embassy, a 104-acre complex in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, which has been the target of sporadic mortar and rocket attacks, has become a symbol of wartime mismanagement. It's months behind schedule and the subject of two criminal probes.

    The documents Waxman released Friday cited a number of specific problems:

• Fire alarms in three of six apartment buildings that will house U.S. diplomats didn't operate properly during tests.
  
  
• There are problems with a diesel engine fire pump that sends water to fire hydrants and sprinklers.
  
  
• The fire alarm network, which alerts firefighters and security personnel to a fire, doesn't operate properly.

    State Department officials said the problems with the embassy's fire-safety systems were being addressed. The building won't be accepted from the contractor, First Kuwaiti General Trading and Contracting Co., until it's up to specifications, they said.

    "We certainly have no intention of taking occupancy or establishing occupancy in a facility that doesn't fully meet all our standards," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.

    As to Waxman's document request, Casey said, "I am sure that we will prepare an appropriate response to his questions."

    Waxman complained that he's been requesting documents about the bidding-selection process and embassy construction since July and hasn't received them, despite personal assurances from Rice. He didn't say how he received the fire inspectors' report.

    He demanded that Rice provide the documents, some of which were subpoenaed in early February, by March 7. Otherwise, he said, "I intend to initiate steps to require the deputy secretary of state to appear in person" at a mid-March committee hearing.

    The Feb. 13 fire safety inspectors' report said the complex was far from ready to house legions of diplomats and military personnel. Dozens of repairs are being done, and new problems still crop up.

    "There still remain deficiencies, both critical and non-critical, in most of the buildings," the inspectors wrote.

    Even sending a team to commission the building is premature, they said, until fire safety systems are "100 percent complete, 100 percent tested, 100 percent functional."

    Waxman also disclosed that because the embassy was prematurely declared ready, First Kuwaiti is being paid another $4.5 million under a new contract to maintain it.

    Rep. Henry Waxman's letter to Condoleezza Rice, and accompanying reports.

    Previous McClatchy reports on the Baghdad embassy.