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British want a bigger slice of the
cake
By Sanjay Suri
LONDON -
British managers will hold a meeting with government
officials this week to press for a larger share of
contracts for reconstruction projects in Iraq.
"Managers from the British Consultants and
Construction Bureau [BCCB] will be meeting officials
from Trade Partners UK," a spokesman for the Department
of Trade and Industry (DTI) told Inter Press Service.
The spokesman declined further comment on the meeting.
Trade Partners UK is a department of the DTI.
Managers from several of about 300 companies who
are a part of the BCCB have already expressed their
concerns over contracts to government officials at an
earlier meeting. Managers represented a cross-section of
professional services, construction and manufacturing.
"The private-sector representatives urged the
government to make appropriate plans for British firms
to help with the reconstruction of Iraq," the BCCB said
in a statement. "Our concerns were strongly expressed in
the meeting with government that we did not want to see
a rerun of the Kuwait liberation in the early 1990s when
the US sewed up the majority of the contracts through
their Corps of Engineers and the Kuwaiti government in
exile in the US."
A spokeswoman for the BCCB
says that British managers are "obliged to tread a
tightrope between accusations of 'ambulance chasing' and
doing nothing ... But we believe that it is entirely
responsible to prepare our members (and others)
especially given their experience in Iraq for rebuilding
the institutions and infrastructure of Iraq."
The spokeswoman acknowledged that there is "an
apparent absurdity between preparing for war and
preparing at the same time for subsequent
reconstruction, but that is the nature of war and its
aftermath". As many as 75 British companies have told
the BCCB that they want to take on reconstruction
projects. More are putting in their bids every day.
The United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) has announced that it is allocating
US$900 million to reconstruction in the first phase, and
has placed several contracts with US firms. The British
have asked for a share of that. "We believe that given
the unswerving loyalty of Britain to the US over Iraq,
there is a strong case for the US government to allow UK
firms to bid for appropriate subcontracts," the BCCB
spokeswoman said.
The US has responded at least
a little to British complaints. Crown Agents, a
development-assistance firm, has become the first
British company to win a subcontract. It will be
subcontractor to International Resources Group, a US
firm providing technical assistance for planning and
management of reconstruction and rehabilitation
services.
USAID administrator Andrew Natsios
says "we are using British Crown Agents to do our
purchasing in the Gulf, so there's a British company
already working for us that was not part of that
particular bid. So it is open." It may be open, but it
is not enough, British managers say. The BCCB wants the
UK government to make its own plans to persuade UK firms
to go back and "assist in the reconstruction of Iraq".
The spokeswoman said, "This cannot be achieved
without some form of financial kickstart; we cannot rely
upon US handouts or wait to compete for multilateral
funding, if eventually made available from such as the
United Nations, World Bank or European Union."
Managers say this will be the biggest
reconstruction plan since the Marshall Plan that paid
for the rebuilding of Germany after World War II. The
estimated budget for rebuilding education, health and
transport systems in Iraq alone is $180 billion over 10
years.
At the heart of the dispute is the claim
that those doing the fighting should get a proportionate
share of the contracts. British managers are
apprehensive that if the postwar efforts are handed over
entirely to the United Nations, anyone will be able to
bid for lucrative contracts. This could lead to a
situation where British soldiers die in battle and
French companies walk away with the business afterward.
British International Development Secretary
Clare Short has said that postwar reconstruction would
be illegal without a UN mandate. Short's position will
count because she was retained in the cabinet even
though she expressed opposition to the war. She has been
told that she will be a key figure in directing the
reconstruction of Iraq.
Foreign Secretary Jack
Straw backed Short. "What we want to see is a UN
endorsement of a post-conflict arrangement and above all
we want to see and ensure that the oil revenues, the
riches of Iraq, are once again used for the benefit of
the people of Iraq and for them alone," Straw said in an
interview to the Indian news channel Doordarshan.
"What we have to do is enter into detailed
discussions with the United States and our partners in
the UN Security Council to create a framework and
machinery which fits the circumstances of Iraq," Straw
said.
(Inter Press Service)
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