An oversight hearing on "Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in U.S. Government Contracting in Iraq" was held on June 27, 2005, conducted by Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee.
Alan Waller, CEO of Lloyd Owens International, and his business partner, Gary Butters, flew to the US to testify at the hearing.
Waller said that over the past year while working in southern Iraq, he had encountered only one Halliburton worker and that every fuel station set up to provide gasoline to the Iraqis was in bad shape, including those that Halliburton was supposed to have repaired.
Waller and Butters told lawmakers at the hearing that every morning the drivers of 120 trucks who line up at the Kuwait-Iraq border to deliver gasoline have to cross the border at dawn because if they wait too long, KBR employees who patrol the border during the day, will subject them to far-reaching inspections and effectively shut down the operation.
The LOI also reported that on June 9th, 2005, a convoy of LOI trucks that was on its way to deliver construction materials for a Halliburton dining facility at an army base near Fallujah, came under attack and 3 drivers were presumed dead and six trucks had to be abandoned.
The surviving drivers limped to a military base, expecting to get help from the Halliburton staff running the facility, but instead got the cold shoulder. When the drivers tried to leave Iraq, they hit a roadside bomb and another man was killed.
Waller said Halliburton employees were instructed not to help the drivers and that the company had failed to warn LOI that two other convoy had been attacked in the same area the previous week.
At the start of the hearing, Congressman, Henry Waxman, (D-CA), introduced a new study based mostly on confidential reports originating from the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA).
The study revealed that overall, Halliburton had received roughly 52% of the $25.4 billion that has been paid out to private contractors in Iraq. The 52% was divided between two different contracts. The first, known as LOGCAP, was to provide logistical support like cooking and cleaning for the troops, and was outsourced to civilian workers, for which Halliburton had been paid $8.6 billion.
On the LOGCAP contract, the company was paid for its actual costs, plus an additional commission of between 1 to 3 percent, depending on its performance.
The "Restoring Iraq Oil" contract covered the repair of Iraqi oil fields in the immediate aftermath of the 2003 invasion and imports of consumer fuel. The RIO contract is now complete and ended up costing $2.5 billion. A second RIO contract is now underway.
New evidence of fraud and contract abuse, was released right before the hearing and showed that KGB:
1) Had overcharged or presented questionable bills for close to $1.5 billion, almost four times the previous amount disclosed.
2) Had lost 12 pre-fabricated bases worth over $75 million which could have housed as many as 6,600 soldiers.
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