23 August 2003
Coalition Working Steadily to Improve Daily Life in Iraq
Summary of recent Centcom press releases, August 23
In Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq, U.S. Marines are engaged in the massive clean-up and restoration of a dilapidated athletic building, which will become the city's new women's and youth center, according to a U.S. Central Command (Centcom) press release.
When completed and upgraded with air conditioning, the center will be a place where women can gather and leave their children in a day-care facility for short periods, Centcom said. A swimming pool and sports complex is being considered for an adjoining piece of property.
In Baghdad, coalition troops are negotiating with vendors to move from overcrowded streets back into designated market areas that will be rebuilt by contractors, according to Centcom. By reducing the traffic congestion and restoring markets, it will be possible to deter crime more effectively and clean many streets of accumulated garbage.
The U.S. Army is continuing to pay claims for damages caused by the actions of U.S. forces by appointing Foreign Claims Commissions throughout Iraq to accept and process such damage claims. According to Centcom, the claims process takes only an average of one month. To date, more than 4,000 claims have been filed and almost $400,000 in damage claims have already been paid out to Iraqi citizens.
Meanwhile, coalition forces continue to find and capture significant caches of weapons and other munitions, Centcom said that that recent confiscations of small arms, explosives, and mines and other equipment took place in near Mosul, south of Tikrit, and in Khan Bani Said in Diyala Province.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=August&x=20030823133846attocnich0.2625543&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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