Administrator’s Weekly Report — Essential Services — 22 تشرين الثاني 2003

Administrator’s Weekly Report Essential Services 16 - 22 November 2003 Electricity/Power Objective: Provide Electricity Services that Meet National Needs Peak output fell to 1,855MW on 17 November when the 400kV line from Baiji to West Baghdad grounded out triggering a series of failures that caused plants to shut down in both the central and southern regions of Iraq. Repairs to all 400 kV lines and most 132 kV have been completed and peak output was back to normal levels with 3,889MW reported on 22 November. (See the circled section on the graph below). The US Army Corps of Engineers Task Force Restore Iraqi Electricity is implementing 14 generation projects, nine transmission projects, and three management and control projects. These projects will add 1,277MW to the grid. Repairs are also underway to more than 270 transmission towers and five major 400kV lines totaling more than 1,000 km in length. Bechtel continues their work to develop 440MW of new generation, repair existing generation plants, and reconstruct more than 200 km of high-voltage transmission lines. The Ministry of Electricity continues their planned fall maintenance program. Average peak output for the reporting period was 3,308MW (3,554MW for the previous week). Maintenance is scheduled to end in time for winter’s cooler months when demand for electricity in residential heating increases. Food Security Objective: Provide Food Security for all Iraqis To date the CPA has worked with the Ministry of Agriculture to import and distribute more that 58,650 metric tons of fertilizer, 310,300 kg of fungicide and 196,998 kg of seed. The Oil for Food (OFF) program officially ended on 21 November with responsibility for the Public Distribution System (PDS) being transferred from the UN to the CPA. $1.4 billion of OFF food contracts will enter Iraq over the next 6 months. CPA is close to concluding the agreement between the World Food Programme (WFP) and Ministry of Trade (MoT) for the ongoing operations of the PDS. WFP will manage the shipments of food to destinations in Iraq; MoT will distribute food from these points to the 44,000 Iraqi food agents. MoT has published the December monthly ration allowance and will print the 2004 food ration cards and distribute them to the Iraqi population. Tea, infant formula, and weaning cereal have seen a reduction in allocation, owing to tight supply lines. CPA and MoT are working on expediting deliveries to address the problem. Transportation Objective: Restore Economically-Strategic Transportation Infrastructure The Ministry of Transportation is continuing to refurbish the Baghdad Central Railway Station. The station services passenger trains to Basrah in the south and Al Qaim in the west. The CPA aviation team has completed a readiness plan to provide three cargo flights a day into Baghdad International Airport. CPA Ministry of Transportation personnel recently traveled to Amman for preliminary discussions with several carriers. These flights are in addition to the current government contracted operations with DHL and FedEx. The CPA, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Interior, and CJTF-7 are evaluating several airports and airlines to assess the viability of conducting Hajj flights to Mecca. The demand for air service for the Hajj is expected to be 6,000 to 10,000 passengers or around 50 flights. Telecommunications Objective: Reconstruct Telecommunications System and Introduce Advanced Technologies The reconstruction of Baghdad’s telephone infrastructure has fallen behind schedule. Restoration of 12 major telephone switches in Baghdad is now scheduled for completion on 17 February vice 15 January. The Minister of Communications has hired an engineer to review the project’s status and make recommendations. The CPA spectrum management office drafted a broadcasting vision paper for the CPA Governance team to present to the Governing Council. The paper outlines the broadcasting goals and objectives that would provide the foundation for an Iraq broadcasting infrastructure that would serve the public interest and provide numerous business opportunities in commercial broadcasting. The Iraqi postal service has commissioned the production of stamps in Baghdad beginning next week. The postal service will closely monitor the process to ensure quality and security. Health Objective: Improve Quality and Access to Health Care The CPA’s Senior Advisor for Health is arranging for Dr. Abbas, Iraq’s Minister of Health, to visit Washington, D.C. the week of December 12 thru 19 at the invitation of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. The office of the Minister has moved into the rehabilitated annex of the Ministry of Health (MOH), which was part of a $1.7 million rehabilitation project. Work on one of two additions to the building will be completed by early December. The second addition will be complete by February 04. This project is on time and within budget. The Minister and Senior Advisor and staffs met to discuss organizational structure options for the MOH. There was agreement on the organizational construct, a key action for transition of the Ministry. The next phase involves selection of candidates for key Director General positions. On November 21, there was seamless transition of the Oil for Food program as it relates to acquisition and distribution of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies. Warehouse operations continue in Amman, and the MOH has established an operations center in Baghdad. Education Objective: Improve Quality and Access to Primary and Secondary Education Dr. Alwan and the CPA’s Senior Advisors for Education met with donor prospects this week including the MBI Foundation, a British-based charity that offers scholarships to Arab students to study abroad. Fifty-Seven school rehabilitation projects in Baghdad have been funded through USAID’s RISE program at a cost of $646,818. Thirty-five of those projects were contracted this week. More than 200 teachers, principals and supervisors graduated from the Ministry of Education’s Master Teacher Training Program this week. USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios and Mission Director Lew Lucke attended the ceremony in Baghdad with the Minister of Education. Higher Education Objective: Improve Quality and Access to Higher Education Iraq’s Commission of Computing and Informatics, which provides advanced technology training to students in the Baghdad area, has invited 14 professors from the American-Iraqi Society of Higher Education to teach intensive courses in computer science, communications, mathematics, signal processing and electronics. The first ever U.S./Iraq Bi-National Fulbright Review Committee met on 19 November to evaluate the hundreds of Fulbright applications. The Ministry of Higher Education has established a “Stranded PhDs” program to address the problem of Iraqi PhD candidates who can not finish their dissertations due to lack of research materials and facilities. This week the George Mason University agreed to sponsor two Iraqi doctoral students from the University of Baghdad to conduct research on their dissertation for up to eight months. PAGE 1