By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 4, 2005 Terrorist attacks
have hampered the reconstruction process in
Iraq, but officials there said today that
work to rebuild the country continues.
My sense is right now we are able to
construct and work in many areas of the
country, said Charles Hess, director of the
Iraq Project and Contracting Office, during
a videoconference from Baghdad with the
Pentagon press corps here.
I won’t say everything is improving, but
clearly it seems like we have, in fact, the
ability to do a lot of work in multiple
areas that we didn’t necessarily have that
opportunity before, Hess said. Not to say
that the insurgency is gone, but clearly,
by the fact that we have many projects in
many areas, we’ve just been able to continue
on, he said.
In their first briefing on reconstruction
since January, officials in Baghdad reported
that about 2,000 construction projects have
been started in Iraq, and that 582 have been
finished thus far, including a new health
academy that opened March 3 and a new
electrical plant.
Officials also reported that construction is
under way for military bases for the new Iraqi
army and Iraqi National Guard.
They are essentially the type of facilities
that would consist of barracks, dining
facilities, training compounds, vehicle
maintenance areas and things of that nature
that you would find on any kind of typical
military cantonment associated with infantry-
type activities, Hess said.
Renovations to terminal complexes as well as
landing and runway lighting systems for the
country’s three major airports were also
mentioned. And work is also being done at
smaller airports in Irbil and Sulimaniyah.
All of this construction has meant a
significant increase in dispersing the $18.4
billion Congress allocated for reconstruction
projects, Hess noted. About $5.8 billion has
been paid out to date, he said, at a rate of
$80 million to $100 million per week.
However, with terrorist attacks on Iraqi
workers still a problem, Ambassador Bill
Taylor, director of the Iraq Reconstruction
Management Office, noted that a substantial
part of the money spent has had to go toward
security for construction projects. He said
the some money was used to pay for personal
security details for contractors and
supervisors, and for such items as armored
cars and concertina wire around bases.
All of that is included in that cost of doing
business, Taylor explained. It’s an expensive
place to do business, and the security part is
in there.
He said the cost of security, in some cases,
clearly has exceeded the 5 percent margin that
was budgeted; in other cases, he added, it has
been less.
Another area that will require more spending
will be getting more of the country’s
electrical power plants up and running,
especially as summer approaches. Hess said
construction recently finished on a new
electrical power station that will add 280
megawatts of electricity, but he noted that
may not be enough.
He said one problem in restoring the country’s
electricity has been that Iraqi engineers have
had to focus on getting parts to make necessary
repairs on power stations that not operational
and had been neglected during Saddam Hussein’s
regime.
What the Ministry of Electricity is doing now
is actually doing maintenance on many of the
plants that have frankly never received the kind
of maintenance that has been necessary to
maintain them in an operating capacity, he said.
And, unfortunately, to do that maintenance work,
you’ve got to remove those plants from operation,
dismantle some of the equipment, refurbish it,
and put it back into what we would describe as
fully capable operating status.
Hess emphasized the Iraqis aren’t dealing with
the problem alone. We’ve gone out to try and
identify the parts, get the parts, and help the
ministry get those plants back in operation so
that we can achieve some short-term gains here
in the electrical infrastructure, he said.
Two new plants are about to come on line in
Bayji, Hess said, where insurgents killed one
person and kidnapped another. He said workers
left the site for a while, but later returned
and again are making progress.
It is still a challenge to get this work done,
Hess said. Terrorist attacks do not make the
task any easier. Taylor pointed out that
attacks on transmission lines and oil pipelines
have affected the oil flow into electricity-
generating plants. And when those get attacked,
that reduces the flow of oil into the
electricity, and that reduces the amount
available, he said.
Army Brig. Gen. Thomas Bostick, commander of
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region
Division, said Iraq has seen an increased
demand for electricity since the country was
liberated. There’s a good-news story here,
he told reporters. The general said prewar
demand for electricity, about 5,000 megawatts,
has increased 60 percent to about 8,000
megawatts. That’s because the Iraqi people are
able to buy televisions and computers and air
conditioners and heaters -- things that they
couldn’t do until democracy and freedom opened
up in this country, he explained.
Hess pointed out that he is encouraged by all
the reconstruction work that is being done.
But, he added, he worries the insurgents will
regroup and then try and figure out other ways
to get at the heart of the infrastructure and
get at the heart of the democratic process that
the Iraqis are trying to institute.
Even so, he said, the mission of rebuilding
Iraq will continue. There are many challenges
that remain out there, but the Iraqi people,
working with the coalition forces, the great
civilians, are doing a wonderful job moving
this mission forward, he said.
47 countries have re-established their
embassies in Iraq.
The Iraqi government employs 1.2 million
Iraqi people.
3100 schools have been renovated, 364 schools
are under rehabilitation, 263 schools are now
under construction and 38 new schools
have been built in Iraq.
Iraq's higher educational structure consists of
20 Universities, 46 Institutes or colleges and
4 research centers.
25 Iraq students departed for the United States
in January 2004 for the re-established Fulbright
program.
The Iraqi Navy is operational. They have 5- 100-
foot patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels and a
navel infantry regiment.
Iraqi's Air Force consists of three operation
squadrons, 9 reconnaissance and 3 US C-130
transport aircraft which operate day and night,
and will soon add 16 UH-1 helicopters and 4 bell
jet rangers.
Iraq has a counter-terrorist unit and a Commando
Battalion.
The Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 fully
trained and equipped police officers.
There are 5 Police Academies in Iraq that produce
over 3500 new officers each 8 weeks.
There are more than 1100 building projects going
on in Iraq. They include 364 schools, 67 public
clinics, 15 hospitals, 83 railroad stations, 22
oil facilities, 93 water facilities and 69
electrical facilities.
96% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have
received the first 2 series of polio vaccinations.
4.3 million Iraqi children were enrolled in
primary schoolby mid October.
There are 1,192,000 cell phone subscribers in
Iraq and phone use has gone up 158%.
Iraq has an independent media that consist of
75 radiostations, 180 newspapers and 10
television stations.
the Baghdad Stock Exchange opened in June of 2004.
2 candidates in the Iraqi presidential election had a
recent televised debate recently.
Submitted by:
Ed Dougherty
President
SFA Chapter 75
