High overhead costs are taking up more than half of the budget for reconstruction efforts in Iraq, severely limiting the construction of infrastructure such as water and electricity lines.
A report by the Special Inspector-General for Iraq Reconstruction -- an arm of the U.S. Federal Government -- blames the rising costs on a nine-month delay between the arrival of construction materials and the actual construction itself.
"The report, released Tuesday by a federal agency, provides the first official estimate that, in some cases, more money was being spent on things like housing and feeding employees, completing paperwork and providing security than on construction."
"The actual costs for many projects could be even higher than the estimates, the report says, because the United States has not properly tracked how much such expenses have taken from the $18.4 billion of taxpayer-financed reconstruction approved by Congress two years ago."
Read the full story: Overhead costs smother the U.S. rebuilding of Iraq
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