WASHINGTON, April 30 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. project to rebuild Iraq remains far short of its targets, leaving the country plagued by power outage, inadequate oil production, shortages of clean water and heath care, the Washington Post quoted a report by a U.S. government oversight agency as saying Monday.

    The 232-page quarterly review by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction presents a sobering picture of the challenges of reconstruction in a war zone.

    The inspector general's report lays out how even successful endeavors -- for example, the completion of more than 800 school projects and training for thousands of teachers -- haven't realized their potential because of security risks.

    During four years of insurgency and sectarian fighting, less than a third of Iraq's 3.5 million students attended class, according to the report, which cited Iraqi Education Ministry statistics.

    The report found that almost all of the nearly 20 billion U.S. dollars in reconstruction funds appropriated by Congress in 2003 has been allocated. More than half of the projects to be undertaken with that money have been completed, while many more are underway.

    In the medical field, only 15 of 141 primary health-care centers have been completed -- and only eight of those are open to the public -- while 126 projects are slated to be finished by the end of the year.

    As in past reports, the inspector general's office found that some of the most significant reconstruction shortfalls were in electricity production. "Electricity has the longest way to go," special inspector general Stuart W. Bowen Jr. said in an interview Friday.

    Before the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq's power system produced 4,500 megawatts a day with an aging infrastructure in which 85 percent of power plants were at least 20 years old, the report said.

    Reconstruction officials initially hoped to increase daily output to 6,750 megawatts by the summer of 2004, a target later lowered to 6,000 megawatts. But in the most recent quarter, Iraq generated only 3,823 megawatts per day.

    The shortage was particularly acute in Baghdad. Before the war, the city received an average of 16 to 24 hours of power a day. Last spring, Baghdad averaged eight hours of electricity a day.

    This year, during the last week of March, the city received only 6.5 hours a day. The rest of the country, however, received an average of 14 hours of power a day.

    Security problems have affected many areas of reconstruction, the report said, making construction difficult and hindering projects slated for completion over the next year and a half.

    The U.S. Defense Department reported an average of 1.4 attacks per week on critical infrastructure in the electricity, water, oil and gas sectors.

    Although the rate is lower than it was before political authority was restored to Iraqi leadership in mid-2004, the attacks are more severe and cause greater disruption, said the report.

    Iraq also continues to miss goals set for producing oil and gas, the report said. This past quarter, oil output averaged 2.6 million barrels per day, compared with the U.S. target of three million. Oil exports account for nearly all the Iraqi government's income.

    The U.S. has spent almost two billion dollars to provide drinkable water and improve sewer systems. The goal of reconstruction was to bring clean water to 8.4 million Iraqis, but with 88 percent of potable water projects complete. The current figure is 5.6 million, according to the report.

    In other areas, the report cites success. Bank officials were trained in distributing small-business loans. Automated tax-collection and accounting systems were installed. veterinary clinics were renovated. And 114 border forts have been completed.