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Bechtel wins first contract to rebuild Iraq
Bechtel Corp., the San Francisco construction giant known for its global reach and high-powered political connections, won a contract Thursday worth up to $680 million to rebuild Iraqi roads, schools, sewers and hospitals damaged in the war. The contract, sought by the nation's largest construction firms, places Bechtel squarely in the middle of U.S. efforts to reshape Iraq. Good idea. Big company, lots of experience, well run — oh, I just noticed they aren't French, either! The company will repair Iraq's waterworks, its electrical grid and its sewage systems. Bechtel also may dredge the seaport of Umm Qasr — gateway for food and medical supplies flowing into the country — as well as repair Iraq's airports. The U.S. Agency for International Development, in charge of picking companies for Iraq's reconstruction, offered few details Thursday of why it chose Bechtel. The selection process, which was cloaked in secrecy because of national security concerns and which was open only to U.S. companies that were invited to bid by the government, angered critics in Congress and abroad. Bechtel, however, pointed to its 60-year history building pipelines, airports and oil sites in the Middle East as credentials for the job. The company has roughly 1,000 people stationed in the region. Although the company offered few details of its plans, spokesman Michael Kidder said Bechtel was meeting with USAID to prioritize the work, determining which of the many tasks had to be handled first. The firm then will seek subcontractors to help, a process Kidder said would be open to companies from other nations. USAID raised the possibility that some of the work would go to Iraqis, saying in a press release that Bechtel would "engage the Iraqi population and work to build local capacity." An agency spokeswoman, however, said USAID had no authority to require that Bechtel hire subcontractors from any specific country. Smart move, though. Get idle hands to work. The contract is the largest for Iraq's reconstruction so far awarded by USAID, which has also hired companies to piece back together the country's education system and run the Umm Qasr seaport. Although the government may spend $680 million on the contract during the next 18 months, the initial award to Bechtel Thursday was far smaller, totaling $34.6 million. Bechtel's decision to bid for the contract turned the company's Beale Street headquarters into a flash point for protests in recent weeks. Demonstrators repeatedly tried to block the building's entrance, saying Bechtel wanted to make money from war. "They use the word reconstruction," said Patrick Reinsborough, Well then, get your own countries to put up some dough. There's lots to be done. Posted by: Steve White 2003-04-18 |
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