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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aBu3oEQBTnTY
The Defense Department’s Inspector General is probing allegations that the Army Corps of Engineers accepted a $28.7 million headquarters building in Kabul, Afghanistan, with leaking pipes, sinking sidewalks and unusable bathrooms, according to documents and congressional testimony.
“The only way you could physically approve it is not be physically there,” said Michael Thibault, chairman of the Commission on Wartime Contracting.
The Corps of Engineers signed off on the building in February 2008 even with “major issues -- septic, electrical, ceiling tiles falling down,” Thibault told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s national security subcommittee in June. “These are big deals.”
The Pentagon is probing the contract as the U.S. military increases its presence to about 68,000 from 57,000 troops as part of President Barack Obama’s strategy to boost security in Afghanistan. The building is occupied by U.S. military personnel.
The Inspector General’s office is reviewing whether the Corps of Engineers “properly monitored constructor performance” and should have taken action against the contractor “because of latent defects, negligence or fraud,” according to a June 15 memo for U.S. commanders from Paul Granetto, principal assistant inspector general for auditing
