MADISON, Wis. -- A state lawmaker has called the University of Wisconsin System's scrapping of a big computer project a "$26 million boondoggle."

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Republican Rep. Rob Kreibich said he wants heads to roll, but the UW System's top information technology chief Ed Meachen said no one is to blame for what he called "a tragedy."

Meachen said that a turf battle, bad project management and major gaps in oversight doomed the Lawson-based Appointment, Payroll and Benefits system.

Even so, he said no one should be fired.

"I don't think anybody should be fired. I think there were mistakes made, serious mistakes made -- but they were made with good intentions," he said.

A year ago, WISC-TV uncovered major delays, cost overruns and management problems with the huge project, which was meant to put all campuses on the same Web-based server technology for certain key functions.

But nearly six years and tens of millions of dollars later, top system officials have pulled the plug.

Meachen said that the scrapped project has resulted in a loss of $26 million to the state, the system and taxpayers.

He acknowledged that is a lot of money, but when WISC-TV asked who should be held accountable, he said no one person undermined the project or was responsible for making it fail.

Meachen said APBS is the UW System's first IT project to fail.

Like a consultant analysis last year, he blames selection of an inexperienced system official as project manager.

He also said there was a turf battle between Madison IT officials and some system managers, major cracks in budget and management oversight.

"One of the issues that clearly came up as a problem is a disconnect between the highest levels of senior administration here and the way projects are carried out -- and who's actually responsible for them," Meachen said.

Despite his title, Meachen said he did not have a leadership role in APBS. He will in the future, though, as the system starts from scratch with a new vendor.

System leaders on Wednesday said in a document that: "The APBS project will not be completed" and they'll instead "pursue a parallel but separate implementation with the State Department of Administration's Oracle/PeopleSoft implementation" project.

But some state lawmakers are furious so much money was wasted.

"We want to see someone held accountable from the UW System for this. This is $26 million -- this is one of the largest boondoggles in the state's history," Kreibich said. "It's given the UW a black eye. It's certainly going to diminish their hopes for a better budget next session."

Meachen said that project accountability fell through the cracks.

"It did. It really did. I think that the greatest tragedy of this is we did not build in sufficient accountability," he said. "If a project fails from this time forward, somebody ought to be held accountable with their job."

But Meachen said that won't be an issue with the PeopleSoft project because a professional will manage it, and there will be new budget and planning oversight.

As for cost, Meachen estimates it'll take another $26 million to do the Oracle/PeopleSoft upgrade.