New US Consulate General building estimated to be completed by 2024: DoD report

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The US Consulate General’s new compound in Erbil is 85 percent complete, and the estimated contract completion date is July 8, 2024, the latest US Defense Department Lead Inspector General report to the US Congress was released on Thursday, says. 

The report, which covers the period from April 1, 2023 – June 30, 2023, mentioned that the original contract completion date was April 11, 2022.

Read More: U.S. Consul General in Erbil: United States will remain a reliable partner of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq

The then-acting United States Consul General in Erbil, Robert Palladino, suggested in September 2021 that the project would be finished by late 2022.

However, the new DoD report mentioned that “the project’s completion was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, security-related project closures, and changes in the scope of work, including additional diplomatic and technical security.”

Moreover, it stated that additional changes are still pending, including corrections to building requirements discovered through inspections and changes to elements such as air shipments of secure materials.

As of December, the total funds allocated for the project were $796.1 million, which includes a reimbursement collected from another tenant agency to perform work on their behalf, the report added.

Read More: US is not going anywhere: US Consul General in Erbil

The US Consul General in Erbil, Irvin Hicks Jr., in January 2023, told reporters that the new 800-million-dollar consulate building is a clear statement that the “United States of America is not going anywhere.”