$40 Million Uncompleted Khan Bani Sa'ad Prison
In May 2004, the U.S. government awarded Parsons Delaware, a U.S. construction company, $80 million to build the Khan Bani Sa’ad Prison, which was supposed to add 3,600 beds to the province’s correctional capacity. In 2006, three months after the prison was supposed to be completed, Parsons asked for another two and a half years to complete the project. Citing “massive cost overruns, the request was rejected. Instead, the U.S. government signed new contracts to complete the work, which was suspended in 2007. The project which had already cost the U.S. $40 million was then transferred to Iraq’s Ministry of Justice despite the fact that the ministry made clear they did not plan to complete the building. In 2008, SIGIR visited the site to find it completely abandoned and completely unsecure, deeming Parson’s workmanship to be“poor-quality” and “potentially dangerous.” The site still sits dormant in Diyala and apparently will never be used.
