Kalashnikovs, scuds and land mines

Talking with Evan Anderson, you’d be forgiven for thinking he was in the employ of Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The conversation is peppered with curious tales. He mentions meetings held in the shadow of “hanging” trees still bearing their grisly fruit; he talks of the “street craft” needed to find the safest place to bed down for the night; and he spills the beans on why Saddam Hussein once gave him a medal, albeit a bronze one.

Then there’s the locations where he chooses to work: Afghanistan; Iraq; Lebanon. And when it becomes clear that for Anderson the Iran-Iraq war was training ground where he could hone his craft, you’ve got to pinch yourself and ask: is this guy 007?

The truth is that while he’s an Edinburgh man – just like the original James Bond – Anderson is no more than a quantity surveyor.

A founder and partner of QS firm Blair Anderson, he’s experienced 25 years of wars and reconstruction throughout the Middle East. His company, co-directed by Stewart Blair, had its genesis among the air raids and scud missile attacks of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and the pair met while attempting to settle the many war claims on construction projects undertaken during the conflict. Blair was an adviser to Iraq’s State Organisation for Tourism, analysing the cost implications of the war on its many hotel projects while Anderson was showing contractors how to recover costs.

When they met up again in Edinburgh in the late 1980s they formed Blair Anderson. Today, they have offices throughout the Middle East, including Baghdad, Dubai and Kuwait.

Scud missiles

Casting his mind back to the early days, Anderson remembers producing a claim for a Greek contractor working on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) building. “We had the odd air-raid but the most serious problem was Scud missiles,” he says. “I produced a claim for Helliniki Techniki after MOFA had been hit by one. But it wasn’t easy. The Iraqi government always denied that the missiles could reach Baghdad, so I wasn’t allowed to mention the Scud, and almost all the contractor’s documents were destroyed in the attack.”

The claim heading was therefore simply The Unfortunate Incident. “I was invited by the engineer to use his records and correspondence to produce a claim for the contractor – it’s unique in my experience of construction disputes,” says Anderson. The next time he saw the MOFA building was on the front page of the dailies after it was attacked by coalition forces in 2003.

Bombs are a constant threat. Last month a project Blair Anderson was working on in Kuwait had to be stopped when excavations revealed unexploded shells. They were left behind by fleeing Iraqis following the invasion in 1990. “The health and safety drills are a bit different from the UK as they cover recognising all types of land and anti-personnel mines, shells, and explosives,” says Anderson. “There can’t be many British site huts that have their walls lined with posters to assist the recognition of ordnance.”

Security measures

While Anderson thinks the UK media presents an unbalanced view of the realities of life in the Middle East, by detailing bombings and little else, he accepts that the War on Terror has affected everyday life in the region. In Kuwait, for example, the Crowne Plaza Hotel, popular with Americans, is protected by concrete blast screens and electronic sensors, and in Jordan all the main chain hotels have increased security measures. Anderson, however, avoids them all. ”I prefer to stay at a venue popular with locals. It has no special security and is therefore absent of Americans. Our staff employ the same ‘street craft’ when working on projects there.”

Anderson makes it clear that his firm does not purposefully try to secure work in war zones, but offers often arrive on their doorstep. Literally in some instances, as he recalls: “Seven months after the defeat of the Taliban two Afghanis came into one of our Dubai offices and paid cash up front to organise the refurbishment of a palace in Kabul. Incidentally, it’s since been bombed again.”

Designer Bob Punchard of Blair Anderson paints a picture of the deal-making process. “Men carried Kalashnikovs like we do briefcases and Talibanis were still left dangling in the trees where they had been hanged months earlier as a warning to others. We didn’t know who these clients were but they certainly had connections. I came out of a late-running meeting to find Jack Straw waiting to be shown in.”

In Iraq Anderson warns that companies must be extremely sensitive when dealing with projects. To this end, his firm has a division headed by an Iraqi engineer that prices its new work there. In the past, companies that advertised involvement with the US or British armies have been attacked.

The cautious approach has paid off - Anderson Blair has been selected by the Ministry of Housing to participate in a bid for a new Holy City in Najaf. “It’s a large, sensitive project involving a mosque and all types of religious buildings, including a university and residences for religious scholars,” explains Anderson.

If it wins they intend to use local engineers because, as Anderson himself admits: “Iraq is a bit too dangerous at the moment, even for the Blair Anderson team.”

As for that medal from Saddam – you’re probably wondering how it ended up in Anderson’s possession. “A major project I worked on, the Babylon Hotel in Baghdad, was officially opened by him,” he says.

Apparently a dance troupe organised by the contractor for the occasion didn’t go down too well but events soon livened up when the infamous tyrant dished out gold, silver, and bronze medals to those involved in the project. So why didn’t Anderson get a gold one? “Oh, you know, the QS as usual, was well down the pecking order when it comes to plaudits,” he says. “But my Bronze is still on show in the meeting room of our Edinburgh office.”