U.S. general provides progress update on restoring key Iraqi infrastructure
Washington – Coalition forces are working closely with Iraqi authorities to rebuild the country’s schools, energy infrastructure and water and sanitation systems.
Before Saddam Hussein came to power in Iraq, the nation “was the second-most prosperous country in this region. But during his tyrannical regime, the nation fell to one of the poorest in the region,” said U.S. Army Major General William McCoy at a July 10 press briefing in Baghdad, Iraq.
McCoy, commander the Gulf Regional Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has played a major role in efforts led by the U.S. State Department to revitalize Iraq, attributed the sharp decline in living standards to the lack of attention given to proper maintenance and operations standards for Iraq’s key facilities.
The extent of this neglect and its effect on the Iraqi people was not appreciated fully by the international community until the dictator was ousted. The World Bank estimated in 2002 that reconstruction of Iraqi infrastructure would cost approximately $60 billion, but McCoy said the a more accurate long-term estimate – following 30 years of minimal upgrades and deterioration -- is closer to between $80 billion and $100 billion.
Increasingly, he said, the world is recognizing “what a devastating effect Saddam Hussein had on the lives of the people here.”
To date, the United States has provided more than $21 billion toward Iraq’s reconstruction, said McCoy. More than 2,700 projects already have been completed and an additional 3,400 are under way.
The key to success is sustained investment to repair Iraq’s long-neglected infrastructure, McCoy said. The U.S. military is working ever more closely at national and local levels “to ensure that the people of Iraq have what they need,” he added.
RECONSTRUCTION SUCCESS STORIES
“Everything imaginable has been undertaken in every sector,” said McCoy, including the construction of new power plants and transmission systems, water treatment and sewage systems, schools, police and fire stations and medical clinics.
Specifically, McCoy reported that coalition forces have:
• Completed refurbishment of many of the 3,000 schools across the country slated for repair by the United States;
• Installed the Advanced First Responder Network, a high-tech data and voice communications system linking police, fire and emergency services across 14 provinces;
• Initiated a series of major capital projects to build new water purification and distribution systems, including a plant scheduled to open in Erbil in August that will provide drinking water for 300,000 area residents; and
• Worked with the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity to complete 150 separate projects to improve consumer power deliveries.
REVITALIZING IRAQ’S ENERGY SECTOR
Equally important to Iraq’s future, the Army Corps of Engineers has helped upgrade oil production and transportation networks to facilitate long-term economic prosperity for the new Iraq, McCoy said
As a result of a $1.7 billion U.S. investment, Iraq now is producing 2.5 million barrels of oil per day and is on track to increase production to 3 million barrels per day by the end of the year, he reported. In addition, the Corps is helping the Iraqis rehabilitate 20 neglected gas oil separation plants, which will be able to capture an additional 3,000 tons per day of natural gas that currently is being lost in the production process.
In addition, the United States recently completed a two-year project to build a new underground pipeline for Iraq’s North Oil Company. The pipeline runs beneath the Tigris River and allows oil to flow north for easy export from Kirkuk, Iraq, or southward for refining.
McCoy said that the country’s three successful elections send a message that “Iraq is moving towards its own form of democracy and self-reliance.” With security improving as the government’s institutions mature, he said “The facilities that we are building with the Iraqis today are but the beginning of the great future this country has.”
REPORT REITERATES NEED FOR SUSTAINED INVESTMENT
In a July 6 report to Congress, the State Department said refurbishing long-neglected systems and building new ones will provide the new government a firm base for future economic growth.
The report states that 2,000 megawatts of electricity now are flowing through Iraq’s electrical grid, 3.7 million Iraqis now enjoy better access to clean water and 5.1 million Iraqis have access to upgraded sewer systems. The report also states that all large-scale infrastructure projects are scheduled for completion by the end of 2006.
“It has cost the United States billions [of dollars], and it will cost Iraq tens of billions before it is over. But it is yielding tangible results every day, and every day, as projects are completed, the lives of individual Iraqis are slowly improving,” McCoy said.
A transcript of McCoy’s briefing is available on the Multi-National Force – Iraq Web site.
The full text of the State Department’s report to Congress is available on the department’s Web site.
For more information, see Iraq Update.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)