Halliburton has, apparently, until the end of the week to justify its bills to the Army. As reported earlier by EnergyReview.net, the Pentagon was planning to not pay the US$60 million per month to Halliburton’s KBR unit for providing meal services, laundry, mail and housing for soldiers in the war-torn nations.
In a statement Army Materiel Command spokeswoman Linda Theis said, “A decision on whether to withhold money from Halliburton [is] on hold. Halliburton received extensions because there is insufficient staff in the government or at Halliburton to review the company’s numerous bills. [I do] not know who had decided to give KBR more time or why the earlier decision was reversed [but] it was the pace. It was the magnitude of this contract.”
“The Army is trying to be fair and equitable [and] we have requested some additional information from KBR to be able to have a better picture of any inadvertent impact of the withhold,” added Theis.
According to Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall, “The withholding issue is a very complicated one. As we have said, we are in continued negotiations and working with the client to get this done right.”
“KBR received a letter late on Tuesday that the Army wanted more information from KBR before formalising implementation of the withhold clause. At this time, we understand the bills are currently being paid in full,” she added.
Halliburton and its KBR unit have been awarded around US$6 billion in contracts by the US Army but has come under criticism and investigation for alleged over charging. The firm has denied any wrongdoing and claims it’s a “political target”.
