Lutton
11-11-2004, 17:22
U.S. military officials in Iraq are trying to work out how Halliburton misplaced millions of dollars in government trucks, generators, computers and, strangely, a port-a-potty.
The inspector general for the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority estimated that at least $1.1 million in government property entrusted to Halliburton was lost or unaccounted for in the staging area of Kuwait. About 43 percent of the inventory items that auditors looked for didn't seem to be there.
The findings come after a July report concluded that the contractor couldn't account for $18.6 million in U.S. property it was responsible for in Baghdad.
"You've got to try really hard" to lose some of the items, said Keith Ashdown, vice president of the fiscal watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. "It gives new meaning to government waste or new meaning to flushing taxpayers' money down a toilet."
The inspector general for the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority estimated that at least $1.1 million in government property entrusted to Halliburton was lost or unaccounted for in the staging area of Kuwait. About 43 percent of the inventory items that auditors looked for didn't seem to be there.
The findings come after a July report concluded that the contractor couldn't account for $18.6 million in U.S. property it was responsible for in Baghdad.
"You've got to try really hard" to lose some of the items, said Keith Ashdown, vice president of the fiscal watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. "It gives new meaning to government waste or new meaning to flushing taxpayers' money down a toilet."