Bechtel, an official US war contract beneficiary overcharged for petrol supplies and carried out shoddy work in Iraqi schools has now been named as one of the Crossrail consultants alongside Warburgs. Both of these consulting companies conclude Crossrail is a project that the private sector will find attractive in terms of making money. Yes but to what economic, social and environmental cost? This is a legitimate question to which the public will want a response.

The war in Iraq has been good for Bechtel. It got a $680 million noncompetitive government contract for "rebuilding" Iraq including schools, hospitals, bridges and water works. Bechtel got a 12-month contract, valued at over 1,03 billion US dollars to renew the sewage system in Iraq but did not repair the water purification system, which, like many other public works departments, was plundered. This means even now, one and a half tons of untreated sewage are pumped into the Iraq’s Tigris River daily. The non-profit National Security Archive obtained declassified US government reports, which were released on Christmas Eve 2003 with the obvious intention of burying their details. The documents confirmed previous UN reports that Bechtel built military infrastructure and plants for Saddam Hussein’s regime during its most repressive era. Although the US and UK neatly avoid any mention of their links during this period for the purposes of deposing Saddam Hussein and taking over the oil supplies following the disbanding of civil society unions in Iraq. Did you know when Bechtel lobbied for an Iraqi-Jordan oil pipeline with Saddam Hussein, Donald Rumsfeld was the representative?

US company Bechtel was also involved in the part-privatisation of the London tube where the National Audit Office concluded that John Prescott's part-privatisation of the London Underground left taxpayers with a bill of £455m in expenses and provided private engineering companies with an opportunity to make profits of 18% to 20% - a third higher than the norm for private finance deals. Two consortia - got 30-year deals worth £15.7bn to modernise the tube's tracks, tunnels and stations. The National Audit Office has reported contracts rose by £590m as negotiations dragged on for far longer than anticipated. The government even paid Metronet £116m in bidders costs. Tube Lines is a joint venture between Amey, Bechtel and Jarvis. The maintenance contracts of the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines was handed over to Tubelines and coincidentally there were two derailments in October 2003.

British Rail privatisation architect Adrian Montague has used a variety of financial mechanisms to prop up a variety of poorly performing privatised companies including British Energy, disbanded Network Rail, discredited SRA (Strategic Rail Authority), the tube, all have left taxpayers paying for failures . Montague has been hired as the chair by transport Secretary of State Alistair Darling said that the new chairman will have decisive new powers to move the project forward. The chair casting vote to provide clarity and give him the final say in the case of disagreements between the two shareholders. The new company allows the interests of the following: Mott Macdonald with Tim Thirwell, a former managing director of Mott Macdonald, Department for Transport (Dft), and Bechtel Group's previous senior executive management team Mike Fuhr. This last appointment is significant in the light of the recent comment by Norman Haste, the Crossrail chief executive, that United States companies will probably take the lead role in managing the £10 billion project. The ostensibly independent financial viability report compiled by Adrian Montague is certain to have led to his latest appointment as chair for the new project.

The Montague report states that the project requires £15bn peak funding (including financing costs) during the period of construction. This figure does not seem to include future interest , operational costs or project cost overruns. The London plan commitment to Crossrail is designed to protect the City’s global financial position but its concentration on giving preferential is detrimental to existing London economies. Despite its vast cash funds and property assets, the City of London wants to expand using development and transport as its strategy to preserve its position as a world financial centre worth £20bn per annum. The City of London local authority, The Corporation of London earns substantial income from properties in its vast portfolio and is set to be the major beneficiary of Crossrail.

It is believed these companies will seek to use these posts in order to later negotiate contracts through TfL and DfT. Mr Carter is a member of the board of directors of Northwest Natural Gas Company and London and Continental Railways, promoters of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in which Bechtel is playing a key construction management role.Three existing directors appointed by Transport for London will stay on the Crossrail board: the drunken London's Transport Commissioner Bob Kiley already paid for by courtesy of Livingstone, TfL's managing director for finance and planning Jay Walder and managing director of TfL's Rail Directorate and chairman of the Docklands Light Railway Ian Brown.

Then chief executive Norman Haste stated the appointment of Adrian Montague as chairman of the company showed the Government's support and means there will be lasting improvements to transport in the Greater London region was totally unfounded. Mr Montague record is worse than disastrous. But Mr Norman Haste omits to state the host of disasters that have brought little or no improvement but questions how much longer this Government is prepared to continue sacrificing taxpayers money whether it is on the Millennium Dome, the Olympics Games, Crossrail or airports for the benefit of multi-national corporations without showing how it will help London cope with an ailing health privatised health service, poor schooling, poor environment and the ever increasing disparity between rich and poor. More importantly these Government projects, which require little or no evidence before receiving large sums of public monies have an expectation that taxpayers will pay for their mistakes with little or no regard to the cost to the public purse.

Did you know the National Audit Commission only investigates once public monies have been squandered? Did you know there is no body to look at the harm caused by ill-thought out public infrastructure and transport projects?

Crossrail is the worst infrastructure project supported by corrupt Labour politicians and it will be exposed and that will be the day when people ask why are ordinary people funding rich corporations like the stinking City Corporation given that it is an unelected body that already lives off London's wealth and land - this is owned by the people of London NOT the City and its corrupt fat bankers.