NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND 7115 South Boundary Boulevard MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101 Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 |
June 7, 2003
Release Number: 03-06-22
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COALITION EFFORTS AID IRAQ'S RECOVERY (June 7, 2003)
CAMP DOHA, Kuwait - Coalition Forces continue to assist in developing a safer and more secure environment in Iraq through the following activities.
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL IRAQ
Coalition Forces recently:
· Reported 3.96 million liters of gasoline were delivered in Baghdad Friday. The goal is 4 million liters/day. Total gasoline and propane distribution for Baghdad continues to meet or exceed targets. Also, 53,100 bottles of propane were delivered. Received 125 benzene and 22 propane trucks from Turkey.
· Reported a total of 108 trucks crossed into Iraq from Syria in the last 24 hours, a strong indicator that commerce is steadily improving.
· Reported a 251-truck World Food Program convoy arrived from Turkey with 5,798 metric tons of food consignments for Dohuk, Mosul, Irbil and Sulaymaniwah.
· Found approximately 13 km of water piping in an abandoned Ba'ath warehouse vic Rabi'ah, which will be used to install a local water system.
· Received nine trucks of bulk food shipments at UN Food Distro in Ar Ramadi for a total of 534 shipments to date.
· Conducted a "Task Force Neighborhood" mission in Mosul that hired 23 locals, and removed 13 truckloads of garbage from a Mosque. Clean-up operations continue in the Tigris River Valley as well.
· Conducted a "Task Force Neighborhood" mission in Makhmur with improvements to the schools, and a soccer field. Provided dental services, began reconstruction of the market, including building stalls and fences.
· Transported and consolidated 133 truckloads of captured Iraqi ammunition in the last two days. 7,375 tons have been removed to date.
· Transported five Iraqi patients to the Medical City Center.
· Reported Government of Syria (GOS) granted tax exemptions, reduced port dues, service fees, and handling fees to the humanitarian community as its contribution to Iraqi reconstruction.
· Participated in the CPA Fuel Distribution conference to continue to coordinate fuel deliveries and contracts in Iraq.
· Attended the Baghdad water and sewage authority weekly meeting to meet municipal services leadership and to finalize a decision to fund $30,000 sewage repair projects in the Rusafa and Adhamiyah municipalities.
· Have removed most of the vehicle hulks.
· Identified and marked 60 live Iraqi tank rounds for removal by explosive ordnance disposal personnel. .
· Continue to repair Terminal C of the Baghdad International Airport, which included electrical, plumbing, and carpentry work.
· Attended a salary meeting in Baghdad concerning June salary payments throughout Iraq. Payments will begin 15 June, with an anticipated completion date of 25 June.
· Facilitated the establishment of Neighborhood Advisory Councils in Rusafa and Ad Hamiya on Friday.
· Reported that assessments of the 500 school facilities by the Ministry of Housing/Construction will be finished in two weeks.
· Assessed the Ibn Al Nafees Cardiovascular Hospital in the Karadah Municipality to coordinate and seek funding for medication and surgical supplies, ambulance repair, and security, and conduct an assessment.
· Attended meeting at the Grain Board, and reported the grain distribution message went out again today by radio and newspaper. Displaced persons are directed to go to one of 128 rationing centers, where they will receive a letter, which they can take to their respective food agent. The Ministry of Trade has agreed to double payments to agents to cover the high costs of transportation/security.
· Disseminated more than 21,600 proclamation posters and handbills about the weapons turn-in program. Coalition forces supplemented this effort with loudspeaker messages and talking one-on-one to local citizens.
SOUTHERN IRAQ
AN NASARIYAH
· Recovered relics from a black market in Al Fajr and made contact with an archeologist to discuss their proper disposition.
AL KUT
· Report that vehicles waiting in gas lines have dropped from 300 cars to 10 in the last two weeks and that black market gasoline sales have virtually disappeared.
· Reported the Wasit Province is currently receiving 65MW of electrical power from the South Baghdad super grid. The amount of power is significantly increasing daily and should be at full power in one week when a 400KV line between Al Kut and An Nasariyah will be returned to service.
AD DIWANIYAH
· Met with the Baghdad Ministry of Education primary , secondary and higher education minsters to discuss plans for the future. Completed program of having provincial teachers sigh Ba'ath party non-affiliation statements.
· Met with the assistant manager of the Agriculture Bank regarding access to accounts for Food Stuff Company and Grain Board.
· Met with the Director of Education to discuss the organizational chart, payment of salaries, hiring security and maintenance workers, and the province- level meetings later this week.
· Submitted a funding nomination for a three-story school administration building looted during the war.
· Paid 9 schools $500 each from discretionary funds.
· Met with representatives of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), World Food Program (WFP), United Nations-Habitat (UNHSC), Geneva Committee International (Red Cross) and Save the Children Foundation (SCF/US) to coordinate relief efforts in the Ad Diwaniyah area.
AL HILLAH
· Supervised the following National Payment Program payments to date.
·· Education Department (265 schools, 491,335,000 Dinars paid).
·· Finance Ministry Retirement Department (46 total employees, 9,200,000 Dinars paid).
·· Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (39 total employees, 7,410,000 Dinars paid)
·· Grain Elevator Trade Ministry (517 total employees, 86,700,000 Dinars paid).
·· Nationality and Civil Issues Department (230 total employees, 45,400,000 Dinars paid).
·· Banking Department/Agricultural Branch (21 total employees, 3,800,000 Dinars paid).
·· Communications Department (369 total employees, 58,300,000 Dinars paid).
·· Fuel Department (766 total employees, 28,350,000 Dinars paid).
· Participated, with the governance support team, in the daily meeting with the interim governor. Issues discussed were the National Payment Plan, compensation for ex-Iraqi soldiers, police performance, and other issues of day-to-day operations of the municipality.
Met with Trade Ministry Officials from the Departments of Trade Observation, The Mills, Shopping Centers, Structural Materials, and Food Supplies to coordinate the payments of salaries to the five departments.
AS SAMAWAH
· Reported that the judicial department began screening candidates to serve as investigators that will eventually work for the police and judicial departments.
· Funds were secured to repair three different warehouse buildings and substation #4. The repairs include windows, doors, gates, fence, and lights.
· Repair/replacement parts for environmental lab and pumping stations were purchased in Baghdad.
· Photographed damage to the Asthma and Allergy Clinic in preparation to complete repairs.
· Conducted a meeting at the Children's Hospital to discuss salary concerns, the need for repair to the air conditioning in the doctors' barracks, and to drop off Foley catheters donated by U.S. Navy Corpsmen.
· Met with the Director of Education and planners and contractors to discuss school projects. Marine Corps engineers assessed four kindergartens.
· Met with CPA-contractor representatives to discuss water and sewage needs assessments, and facilitated contact with local officials of the sewage department and U.S. Navy Seabees, who have expertise in water treatment assessments.
KARBALA
· Performed operational assessments of the Al-Hussein Water Treatment Facility, which provides water to 30% of the city (approximately 50,000 homes) and the areas around the shrines. Assessing cracked pipes, broken valves, and leaking, and structural stability for future repair.
· Met with Manager of the Women's Hospital to discuss plans and estimates for repairs to the operating and labor rooms.
· Met with Save the Children at City Hall and turned over two projects to them. One project is connecting two water lines to filters at the Al Hussein Hospital. The other project is procuring parts for a city water-pumping facility.
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