Iraq aid wasted on swimming pool (15% of aid is wasted)

As President Bush prepares to ask Congress for extra cash to help rebuild Iraq, a report claims up to 15 per cent of aid is wasted and names the construction of an unused Olympic-sized swimming pool as an example.

The spending review names a never-used police training camp as an example of wasted cash.

It was relocate to the Adnan Palace in Baghdad where the swimming pool was built and 20 VIP trailers were added to a cost of $43.8 million (£22.4 million).

The report's conclusion that up to 15 per cent of cash is wasted comes as President Bush prepares to ask Congress for an extra $1.2 bn (£600 million) in aid for rebuilding.

"The potential loss could be 10 to 15 percent, but we are waiting until we finish the large analysis," said Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. That figure was only an estimate and "it very well could be higher," he added.

...

"The security situation continue to deteriorate, hindering progress in all reconstruction sectors and threatening the overall reconstruction effort," he said.

(more)

http://www.itn.co.uk/news/world_ae05b9254f493657618caf0adad08145.html