According to Husseini, “Following the amount estimation stage comes another stage, which is determining the contractor or the company based on a prior agreement with government officials. Ultimately, the project is implemented with minimal specifications to achieve higher profits.”
Iraq suffers from corrupt infrastructure projects as well as delayed and substandard sanitation and sewage projects and poor-quality school buildings. Meanwhile, fraud plagues a significant number of road paving works.
According to Qasim Mozan, a reporter for Al-Sabah newspaper, “The phenomenon was exacerbated after large amounts of money were allocated for reconstruction [projects] after the war ended in 2003.” He told Al-Monitor, “Some citizens saw projects being sold in the cafeterias of municipal councils.”
He further stated, “Contractors are associated with parties and politicians, and they received huge sums while the projects remained inactive or were badly implemented.” He explained, “I learned about this because I work in the media, and I have been reporting the activities of the municipal councils for several years.”
Despite the billions spent on infrastructure reconstruction since 2003 on projects carried out by contractors and other businessmen, the project stalls are clear and still cause political and media controversy. Last May, Hadi Salami, chairman of the Integrity Commission in Najaf, issued a statement asserting, “There is fraud affecting most of the projects implemented in Najaf.”
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