PRESS CONFERENCE: Reconstruction: Maj. Gen. Eyre, Mr. Hancock, Jan. 25, 2009
Multi-National Force-Iraq
Maj. Gen. Michael Eyre and Mr. Richard Hancock, Gulf Region Division, provide a reconstruction update.
PRESS CONFERENCE:
Major General Michael Eyre, Commanding General, Gulf Region Division
Mr. Richard Hancock, Director of Programs, Gulf Region Division
DATE: January 25, 2009
TRANSCRIBED BY: SOS INTERNATIONAL LTD.
PARTICIPANTS:
Major General Mike Eyre
Mr. Richard Hancock
REPORTERS:
Favem[ph] from Radio Sowa
Harithan[ph] Nasari[ph] from EIN News Agency
Layth Ahmed[ph] from Free Iraqi Radio
Ahmed Jassem from Arab News Agency
Ayet[ph] from Eva[ph] News Agency
Sati[ph] Mahamdi[ph] from Tavaman[ph] News Agency Independent
Mosta[ph] Farqaner[ph] Hamed[ph] from Irassad[ph] News Agency
REPORTERS 1-8
REP1 = REPORTER 1
INT = INTERPRETER
[ph] = PHONETIC
MG EYRE: As-Salāmu `Alaykum. Good afternoon. I’m Major General Michael Eyre, the commanding general of the Gulf Region Division, better known as GRD, with the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Iraq. I’d also like to introduce my senior engineer, our director of programs, Mr. Richard Hancock. Unfortunately, Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh, the official spokesman for the Government of Iraq, who was planning to join us today, had a last minute schedule change that prevented him from attending.
Today is a significant milestone for us as we mark five years of partnering with Iraq to rebuild this great nation and laying a foundation for continued success. It was five years ago today that GRD was tasked with overseeing a great deal of the reconstruction effort in Iraq. And today we’d like to talk a little bit about some of the major accomplishments we’ve made and what lies ahead as we look to the future of this sovereign nation.
I took command at GRD in October, 2008 and I’m humbled and amazed by what I’ve seen. The progress we’re making—and when I say we, I mean all of us together—is absolutely remarkable. The greatly improved security situation has really allowed the reconstruction progress to advance and we are turning projects over to the Government of Iraq every week.
Just to give you some background on our organization, GRD is made up of more than 600 federal civilian employees and military service members and thousands of contractors. But we also have more than 400 Iraqi associates who work directly with us. And the construction projects we oversee are putting, on average, 25-30,000 Iraqis to work every day. In addition, nearly 75% of our active contracts are awarded to Iraqi contractors. And GRS, our district office covering the nine southern provinces, actually has 92% of its contracts awarded to Iraqi businesses.
Recent surveys here have shown that the majority of Iraqis are now saying their number one concern is essential services, where in the past it has been security. This is such a positive sign for this country. So I’d like to point out that we continue to work nonstop with our Iraqi partners to improve the quality of life for all Iraqis.
The slide you are looking at now shows the more than 400...4,400 projects we’ve completed since January of 2004, valued at nearly $7 billion. We continued building upon that success in support of the Security Agreement and the Strategic Framework Agreement. One way we are doing that is by partnering with the Government of Iraq as we have with both the Baghdad Amanat and, more recently, the leadership of the Baghdad Province. These agreements ensure that everything we do is building toward completed projects that meet the needs of the people of Iraq. And in these partnerships, the Government of Iraq has the lead and we are in the support role.
I’d now like to turn over to Rich Hancock, who will talk a little bit more about some of the most significant projects we’ve completed. Rich?
MR HANCOCK: Shukran, General Eyre. My name is Richard Hancock. I’m the director of programs at GRD. I oversee the many different kinds of reconstruction projects that GRD is involved in, which include energy, water, education, security and health care facilities, transportation, and much more.
Just this week, we dedicated the Sadr R-3 Water Treatment Plant, which has increased the capacity for clean, potable water in Sadr City. It has the ability to serve 192,000 people. Sadr R-3 is just one of the more than 800 other completed water supply projects throughout Iraq. These projects have directly impacted the quality of life, health, and well-being for more than 5 million people.
The Quddus[ph] Electrical Generation Power Plant is almost complete; and in just a couple of weeks, will add an additional 180 megawatts of electricity to Iraq’s power grid. These added megawatts are equivalent to enough power for 180,000 homes. We’ll be handing that project over to the Government of Iraq in the spring.
In health care, we have turned over to the Ministry of Health 132 primary health clinics and 41 hospitals. These hospitals and clinics provide modern facilities for the treatment of millions of patients in all parts of the country, ensuring a clean and modern workspace. And in many of the larger facilities, we have taken extra steps to help attract premier physicians by adding on-site living accommodations for doctors.
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention what I believe is the real heart and soul of the future of Iraq, education. We’ve built or renovated more than 1,100 schools, providing children throughout this country with the kind of quality facilities they deserve. And some of the facilities we’re working on are for adults – vocational schools like the one in Iskandiriyah, where we are renovating seven dormitories to house up to 1,400 students, as well as classrooms and auditoriums. One of the best parts of that school is that as students graduate, we are putting many of them right to work on the construction site, expanding the school that they just graduated from using the skills that they just learned.
As we look to the future, our efforts here are beginning to transition. We are completing many of our reconstruction missions, and now we are looking to training in order to ensure that long after we’re gone, the infrastructure we built will still be able to serve the people of Iraq and provide the essential services that you need. We have a few contracts underway now that will help set this country up for long-term success, and also focus on training and technical-level management as well as operations and maintenance, making sure that the workers at these facilities can keep them in good condition and ensure that they provide the people of Iraq for many years to come. Shukran.
MG EYRE: Thanks, Rich. Before taking questions, I would just like to say a few words about the future of GRD. So much is changing in 2009, a historic year for us all as we look ahead to closing out major projects and programs and turn more and more over to the Government of Iraq. We will also be moving our headquarters out of the International Zone this year in accordance with the Security Agreement. We are really encouraged by the improvements in the security environment, because that allows us to focus on what we came here for and what GRD does best, which is building strong foundations together and preparing Iraq for a successful, prosperous future. We look forward to continued success in our partnership to serve the Iraqi nation.
We’ll now open the floor to your questions. Shukran. Please.
REP1: [Asks question in Arabic.]
INT: Favem[ph], Radio Sowa. My question is for the gentleman. With the financial crisis which the U.S. is witnessing now, will it affect projects supported by the U.S. Army? Is it [financial crisis] going to affect current projects? Second question, regarding power. Are there any projects that will continue even after the pullout of the U.S. Army? Thank you.
MG EYRE: Could you please repeat the first part of the question?
REP1: [Repeats question in Arabic.]
INT: With the international crisis, especially the U.S. having a financial crisis. Is it going to affect the projects supported by the U.S. and the U.S. Army? Is it going to have a financial affect on current projects?
MG EYRE: We will continue to focus in on our mission here, which is to complete all our construction projects in the most efficient and timely manner. And we’ll do that in cooperation with the Government of Iraq and the U.S. government agencies here in Iraq.
MR HANCOCK: And the second part of your question was, I believe, about power. Could you repeat that portion?
REP1: [Repeats question in Arabic.]
INT: Yes. It is about energy, power. Will current projects continue after the pullout of the U.S. Army? Thank you.
MR HANCOCK: The focus of our efforts, now, in partnership with the Government of Iraq, is to make sure that as we complete projects, like the Quddus[ph] power project, that we provide training for the technicians that will be operating the facility. So from that perspective, the projects will continue, you know, after the U.S. troops pull out. Hopefully we’ll have that training accomplished and that Iraqis will be able to operate and maintain the facilities.
REP2: [Speaks in Arabic.]
INT: Harithan[ph] Nasari[ph], EIN News Agency. My question is for Major General Michael Eyre. After signing the security agreement between the U.S. and Iraq governments, what is GRD posture in Iraq? Are you going to leave in 2011 according to the security agreement as the President Obama said, after 16 months? Is it a fixed date?
MG EYRE: We’ll continue to perform our mission here in Iraq and that will be based on the decisions of our senior military and the senior U.S. leadership, and they will do that in cooperation with the Government of Iraq. So our intent and purpose will be...we will be here based on the direction of that senior leadership, both from the Government of Iraq and the U.S. government.
Please. I’m sorry [laughs].
REP3: [Asks question in Arabic.]
INT: Layth Ahmed[ph], Free Iraqi Radio. My question is about lack of finance; did it affect some projects? Have you stopped some projects? Are you going to continue financing these projects until they are complete? My question is for you, Mr. Hancock. How do you evaluate the reconstruction process by the GRD for last five years? And do you have financial corruption cases as officials have said? Did it affect your work, sir?
MR HANCOCK: I can address the financial portion of the U.S.-provided money—U.S. government funds and coalition funds—and then I’ll try to address the Iraqi funds.
Up to this point in time, a large portion of our projects have been provided by U.S. or coalition forces with an increasing percentage of that being provided by the Government of Iraq. From this portion forward, most of our funding is actually coming from the Government of Iraq. Our bigger programs, which are foreign military sales and military construction and ICERP, are actually funded by the Iraqi government. So we have not felt, at the current time, financial crunch; we haven’t had any funding cut off. But I would say that with the future being funded more by Iraqi funds and less by U.S. funds, I don’t think that the U.S. budget crisis is going to have a huge impact on our projects. I can’t speculate on the Government of Iraq funds and whether or not that will have an impact on our projects.
MG EYRE: And if I could just highlight, currently we have over 450 active projects, valued at approximately $2.6 billion. And our intent, because they’re all active projects, regardless of sourcing and funding, we will follow those through to completion.
I’m going to...okay. [Speaks to an unidentified reporter off microphone.] I’m sorry. I won’t forget you [laughs].
REP3: [Repeats question in Arabic.]
INT: The second part of the question is about how much corruption cases affected the work of GRD.
MG EYRE: I don’t think either of us can really speak specifically about that. We know all our projects have been worked in cooperation with the Government of Iraq ministries and the U.S. government agencies. And all our projects are currently validated funding. And as we had stated, we’re working with Iraqi contractors to provide that capacity-building here in theatre in Iraq for the long-term success for all of us.
Sir, please.
REP4: [Speaks in Arabic.]
INT: Ahmed Jassem, Arab News Agency. We are aware that you work with the Iraqi government as one team to fight terrorism. But now as we are look forward, we see you becoming one team with the Iraqi government concerning building...rebuilding Iraq. Iraq now, as you’re aware, you and the Iraqi government are determined to rebuild the infrastructure. Our citizens are in need for residential compounds. Do you have any plans within your projects to build, rebuild, residential compounds, Sir?
MG EYRE: What I’d like to do, if I could get your contact information, we could follow up with you and give you the specifics of the different types of projects we have, whether they are for medical, education, security, transportation, communications. We can give you the specifics of our current and planned projects in those locations. I think that would probably help you most.
REP4: [Asks question in Arabic.]
INT: Residential housing, sir, for the Iraqis. Do you have any intentions of working in this sector?
MG EYRE: Was that housing?
MR HANCOCK: Let me address your question. The types of accommodations we’ve been building so far have not been specifically aimed at housing for residential community; it’s been more specific to the project. For example, the Basra Children’s Hospital, we are actually building accommodations as part of that project to help attract premier doctors to the facility. So we have built housing units, from that perspective.
We haven’t been asked by the Government of Iraq yet to build residential housing units. So I would refer you to the Ministry of Construction and Housing for the types of projects that they have ongoing. We haven’t been directly involved in those. If we are asked to, we would certainly work with the government, and hopefully, work on those types of projects.
MG EYRE: Please.
REP5: [Asks question in Arabic.]
INT: Ayet[ph]. Eva[ph] News Agency. There was a project to provide power generators to shops in Baghdad, but the generators were too little...too few in number that they were not enough. Do you have any intentions to procure more generators in order to distribute them?
MG EYRE: I think some of the projects that you are alluding to are being done by Multi-National Division – Baghdad, they’re providing some of that through their use of CERP funds, and we can’t specifically speak to about. But we could definitely get you that information, of what is being provided. So again, if we could get your contact information, we can put you in contact with the right sources.
MR HANCOCK: I could provide some general statistics, too. I don’t know specifically about that circumstance, but in terms of our power projects, we have 583 projects completed, 25 are ongoing. Quddus[ph] is the biggest one that’s currently ongoing.
But we had a goal of reaching a peak generation of 6,000 megawatts, and we actually achieved that goal in December of 2008. And that’s actually higher than the levels that were prior to 2003. So we have reached some goals. I know that that doesn’t mean that everybody has power 24 hours a day, but we...there has also been an increase in demand. So as the increase in production is being achieved, we’re also seeing an increase in demand. So we still have a ways to go before we can meet all of the power needs.
MG EYRE: And are you also asking about what the Government of Iraq recently purchased from General Electric and Siemens as far as generating capability?
MR HANCOCK: I don’t know if I can address that, sir.
MG EYRE: I mean...because there were 66 units bought from General Electric and I believe 16 units from Siemens to provide additional electrical capacity. But that’s really a Government of Iraq, through the minister of electricity, initiative. That’s separate from what we’re doing.
REP6: [Asks question in Arabic.]
INT: Sati[ph] Mahamdi[ph]. Tavaman[ph] News Agency Independent. Mr. Hancock, there are some donor countries that have offered Iraq some materials related to water purification. These companies have brought their machines here, but they did not conduct their work. Sir, what do you think about this?
MR HANCOCK: I have not heard about that. I’m certainly interested in getting some more information from you about that. If it’s something that has been turned over to the Government of Iraq, we would be happy to coordinate with government officials, the Ministry of Water, and see if we can incorporate those types of things into future projects. But I’m not very familiar with the specifics of what you’re speaking.
REP6: [Speaks in Arabic.]
INT: Mr. Hancock, these machines [water purification] are in an al-Jazeera area, close to al-Habbaniya. These machines are in a bad environment; they are exposed to sun. What are your thoughts about this?
MR HANCOCK: Okay. Sir, I guess I can’t speculate on how they’re being stored. It sounds like it needs to be stored in a more secure area that’s protected from the environment. But once again, if I get some more information—and if you would like to see me afterwards, maybe I can get some specifics and follow up.
MG EYRE: And one of the things I’d like to highlight, with all our facilities that we’ve installed, we’re providing additional training because we all know one of the most important aspects is, after the construction is completed, that we take care of the operations, maintenance, and sustainment of that for the long term.
Please.
REP7: [Asks question in Arabic.]
INT: Mosta[ph] Farqaner[ph] Hamed[ph]. Irassad[ph] News Agency. Major General Michael EYRE, you have achieved a lot concerning schools, hospitals. But there are more vital issues, which would also serve the Iraqi economy such as industries, and they are not working. They need to be rebuilt in order to improve the Iraqi economy and help reduce unemployment. What are your thoughts and opinion about this?
MG EYRE: I think one of the things that we have seen, because of the improved security environment, is that there’s more investment being made by other countries in Iraq. And really, that’s probably something long term what we need to move towards. But when we look at the economy, our direct impact is really through construction. And on any given day, as we had stated, there’s about 20...upward of 25,000 Iraqis who are working on our construction sites. I know that doesn’t directly answer your question, but that’s the positive impact that we, GRD, are having on the economy in Iraq right now.
Oh. Yes, please.
REP7: [Asks question in Arabic.]
INT: There are many Iraqi factory and industry workers men who have stopped working due to the lack of power or the high prices for fuel. Do you support those people? Can you help those industries revive, so that we wouldn’t import from China and other countries? Thank you.
MR HANCOCK: Yes, we recognize that unemployment has been an ongoing problem. I think with recent improvements in security, as General Eyre mentioned a few minutes ago, we hope that we see more industry and more private investment starting to come into the country. And, you know, I think that we can build upon the successes that we have seen so far. And, you know, we’re optimistic that the future will continue to improve and we will work with our partners here within the ministries and within the government to help us move in that direction.
MG EYRE: And one thing that I’d like to add that I hadn’t mentioned about the economy is—and I don’t have all the specifics, but we can get that to you—but the term “IBIZ,” the Iraqi Business Initiative Zones, that those are Iraqi-owned, Iraqi-built businesses that we help support. I know they have them over at Victory Base Complex, they’re also at Balad. And we can give you more specifics, but that’s reinforcement for the Iraqi economy.
Yes, sir.
REP8: [Asks question in Arabic.]
INT: Since 2003 until now, millions of dollars have been spent on infrastructure. Are you deducting the years’ amounts from the Iraqi government or is it a grant to the Iraqi people?
MG EYRE: If I can...hopefully I understand your question; it’s about how our current projects are funded. Is that correct?
REP8: [Repeats question in Arabic.]
INT: No. Since 2003 until now, you’ve been working on infrastructure. You’ve spent millions of dollars. These dollars that you have spent on infrastructure, are you going to take the money back, deduct it from the Iraqi government, or is it a grant from the U.S.to the people of Iraq?
MR HANCOCK: I can’t address that, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: He’s asking if the money which is being spent on the infrastructure, millions and billions of dollars by the U.S. government, will the Iraqi government repay the money later or is it a gift from the American government to the Iraq.
MG EYRE: Those funds that have been used previously, as well as those U.S. funds that are currently committed, we will finish those projects and then we will turn over ownership of those projects to the different ministries, and the Government of Iraq so that you own it. There’s not an expectation that that’s going to be taken away or that the Government of Iraq owes the U.S. for any funds used in those projects
If there are no other questions, what I’d like to, again, is thank you for your attendance and participation today. I appreciate your support. As we highlighted, we’re here for Iraq and the citizens of Iraq for the long term, and that we’re building strong foundations together and that we will do it in a partnership. I thank you all and I wish you the best. Shukran. [Applause.]
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
