Administrator’s Weekly Report — Essential Services — 1 تشرين الثاني 2003

Administrator’s Weekly Report Essential Services 26 October – 1 November, 2003 Oil for Food Update The CPA is working with the World Food Program to extend their logistical support to the Public Distribution System past the 21 November turn-over date. Work on the CPA Oil for Food (OFF) Coordination Center is continuing. Members of the CPA OFF team have done a walk through of the premises and are filling in staffing gaps. Representatives from 14 Iraqi ministries are participating in the training. More than 60% of the 3,500 OFF contracts have been renegotiated through the UN. The transportation ministers of Jordan and Syria offered the use of their port facilities for OFF shipments to Iraq during a recent meeting with Iraq’s Minister of Transportation. Electricity/Power Objective: Provide Electricity Services that Meet National Needs The Ministry of Electricity continued their planned fall maintenance program with three 300+ MW units currently down for maintenance. Average peak output for the reporting period was 3,876 MW (up from 3,648 MW last week). The target output is 3,800MW. Problems with natural gas supply and breakdowns have had an impact on output. Maintenance is scheduled to be completed before peak demand during the winter heating season. . The US Army Corps of Engineers Task Force Restore Iraqi Electricity (RIE) is implementing 14 generation projects, nine transmission projects and three management/control projects designed to complement CPA and MOE restoration efforts. These projects will add 1,045 MW of new generation. Task Force RIE has also started a project to repair 270 downed electric towers and five damaged 400 KV lines that total more than 1,000 km in length. Bechtel has reached an agreement with Siemen Westinghouse for the turbine rehabilitation of units five and six of Baghdad’s Doura power plant. The $2 million contract provides technical services for the dismantling of two 160 MW steam turbines and examining the units to determine the level of repair required. Health Objective: Improve Quality and Access to Health Care MOH graduated 175 new Facility Protection Service (FPS) staff. The MOH has assumed responsibility for approximately 4,000 FPS personnel trained by the 1st Armored Division. The CPA/MOH team has enhanced security at the Ministry. Jersey barriers have been installed to keep vehicles further away from the building. Security guards now screen all visitors at the entrance and provide escorts to the appropriate offices. MOH is continuing to progress in its strategic planning efforts looking at 2005 and beyond. The process is generating excitement among Iraqi staff and there has been very active participation among the Iraqi leadership. Working groups have been formed in the areas of public health, education and training, and healthcare delivery. The MOH hosted Ms. Carol Brookins, the US Executive Director of the World Bank, on a tour of the Ministry of Health and Al-Monsoor Pediatric Teaching Hospital in Medical City, Baghdad. Ms. Brookins was impressed with the progress of the CPA/MOH. Transportation Objective: Restore Economically-Strategic Transportation Infrastructure CPA, military and Iraqi officials continue to be concerned about the deteriorating security situation on the railway. A CPA/CJTF-7 team has been formed to develop strategies to address the problem. Transportation Minister Behnam named Captain Mohammad to fill the top security position in the Ministry. Prior to this appointment, Mohammad served as the Chief of the Iraqi Railroad police. He is expected to be more responsive to direction from the minister than the previous security chief. Aviation communications equipment will soon be installed in Ar Rutbah (60 miles east of the Iraqi-Jordanian border) that will permit Iraqi air traffic controllers to communicate with commercial aircraft in western Iraq. Once installed, the national network will be completed and air traffic controllers will be able to speak to any commercial aircraft in Iraqi airspace. Confirmation has been received that the first of the OFF contracts for railway materials has been renegotiated by the UN and delivery schedules set. Iraqi Airways has vetted and badged the first group of employees who will provide ground handling and equipment maintenances at Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). Later this month, several employers will complete refresher training and professional recertification in Jordan as part of a new joint venture between Iraqi Airways and Royal Jordanian Airlines. Water Resources Objective: Improve Water Resource Management Irrigation Canals km (estimate) Total Irrigation Canals in Iraq 27,000 Canals in need of clearance May 2003 20,000 Canals cleared as of 27 Sept 16,000 Canals cleared per week 500 The Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) has completed training of 1,100 new facilities protection service (FPS) officers. In addition, the military has begun transferring control of current FPS officers to MWR in the southern governorates and within the 101st Airborne Division’s area of control in northern Iraq. The Ministry’s list of projects for the supplemental is nearly complete. The Program Management Office representatives are working closely with Ministry engineers and advisors to complete the scopes of work. The Emergency Work Program, which put more than 100,000 Iraqi’s to work clearing irrigation canals and drainage ditches, drew to a close on 30 October with more than 7 million man-days worked and more than $18 million injected into the rural economy since mid June. Labor and Social Affairs Objective: Convert Social Services Programs into Economic Development Tools More than 27,000 people from Baghdad alone have received employment services at the newly established Baghdad employment office. Over 18,000 Social Security recipients received their quarterly stipend. The Ministry is also paying an addition 68,000 welfare recipients their quarterly allowance this week. Three leaders of the newly established Employment and Training Department within the MOL returned from three weeks of training in Jordan and the U.S. where they met with the Secretary of Labor and briefed senior officials from Congress and DOD. They also received extensive training from Department of Labor officials and toured employment service offices in Washington, Baltimore and Minneapolis. A grant of $1.2m was awarded to set up a National Women’s Organization which will influence policies on women and their welfare. A joint team of MOLSA and CPA officials started a national assessment of all social welfare programs and facilities located throughout the country. The first assessments in Karbala and Hilla have been completed. Mandana Hendessi, an internationally recognized expert on gender issues, was a featured speaker at the Woman’s Conference in Sulaymaniyah. The conference brought together a large and diverse crowd interested in women’s roles and rights. Telecommunications Objective: Reconstruct Telecommunications System and Introduce Advanced Technologies Formulation of terms and conditions for the mobile phone licenses is nearing completion. The three selected vendors have continued the pre-positioning of cellular equipment. Since the final operating licenses have not yet been issued, the prospective licensees are proceeding at risk. Orascom, the Egyptian vendor that won the license for Central Iraq, is planning to locate its main switching center at Baghdad International Airport. The Ministry of Communication’s implementation schedule for Iraq’s telephone switching restoration is in jeopardy of falling behind schedule. The Iraq Telephone and Postal Company (ITPC) has been unable to get fuel to run the power generators at the al Mamoon and Sinek telephone exchanges in Baghdad. ITPC has also been unable to provide personnel to complete cabling of these two exchanges. Lucent is augmenting this effort. Installation of the telephone switch at Bab-Almuadham in Baghdad was delayed due to a grenade attack. There was some damage to the main distribution frame container where the switch is contained, but no damage occurred to the internal equipment. The Ministry of Finance has authorized payment to postal security guards to resolve back-pay issues. Payment problems persist between ITPC and its contractors, which has resulted in work stoppages and personal threats against ITPC officials. Public Works/Sanitation Objective: Provide Water Supply, Sewerage and Municipal Services The Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works (MoMPW) received 30 compact units for sewage treatment through an Oil for Food Program to replace malfunctioning units in outlying provinces. The reconstruction program aims to improve access to sewerage to 11% of the population nationally. The MoMPW received 100 pick-up trucks through an Oil for Food contract. The new vehicles will enable the Ministry to re-establish municipal services in locations where vehicles were looted or permanently disabled. Education Objective: Improve Quality and Access to Education Revised science and mathematics textbooks have been printed under a USAID grant with UNESCO and are now being distributed to primary and secondary schools. A distribution plan is expected to be received from UNICEF shortly for the revised social science and language textbooks that are being printed using Oil for Food funding. A draft capacity building work plan emphasizing organizational development objectives is being prepared by the Education Management Technical Advisor for the Ministry of Education. A similar draft work plan for the development of a conceptual framework for an Education Management Information System (EMIS) is also being prepared. Higher Education Objective: Improve Quality and Access to Higher Education The renovation of the Museum of National History at the University of Baghdad has been completed. This museum is the only one of its kind in Iraq. The CPA and the U.S. military have agreed to renovate and transform the Al-Rashid buildings at Al-Bakir University in Baghdad into dormitories for the University of Al-Mustansayia. This decision closes a potential rift between the university and CPA/US forces over dormitories that are currently occupied by US forces. Large shipments of textbooks in law, medicine, economics and other fields have been delivered to Baghdad University. The Association of Iraqi Academics in the U.K also donated several tons of books and academic periodicals, but much more is needed. The previous regime invested little in Iraq’s scholastic libraries. The Iraqi Society for Higher Education Abroad, an association of Iraqi professionals, scientists and academics working outside of Iraq, has offered to send up to 90 professors to Iraq to offer one-month courses at Iraqi universities and technical institutes. DATE \@ "M/d/yyyy" 4/20/2004 PAGE 3