Thursday, October 9, 2003

Thursday, October 9, 2003 South Central Regional Governors’ conference Al Hilla, Babil Province. Governors from the South Central Region met on Thursday to discuss issues affecting their six provinces. The region includes the following provinces: Al Anbar, Babil, Karbala, Najaf, Qadisiyah, and Wasit. The South Central region represents a third of Iraq’s 18 provinces, half the land mass of Iraq, and about 45% of the country’s population. Some of the issues mentioned included electricity, fuel, unemployment, and security. Representatives from the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Electricity attended the meeting and answered the governors’ questions. The following actions have been taken by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA): Electricity – CPA is providing generators to target idle industry and is currently importing electricity from Turkey and Syria. CPA will continue to work on additional security for the electrical infrastructure. Fuel – Repairs to the Basrah gas pipeline were accelerated and pressure has been restored to required levels to support gas fired generators in the South-Central region. Fuels are being imported to assist with supply needs. Unemployment – CPA developed a program to employ over 100,000 people throughout Iraq, including within the South-Central region. Additional power generating capacity should affect an additional 30,000 directly and could generate more than 100,000 additional new jobs in the South Central Region. Security – CPA has established the Department of Border Enforcement and expanded the Facility Protection Services. CPA South-Central also purchased over $1.2 million in radio equipment to assist in more effective law enforcement in the region. Furthermore, President Bush has asked for $20 billion for Iraq. This is $4 billion more than the entire budget for Iraq this year and is the largest single request for any country ever. The Coalition is optimistic about Iraq and will continue to help the Iraqi people progress toward self-government. As evidence of this, the Governor of Najaf concluded his remarks by saying, “People dream of having a share, even if it is a small share, in the riches of their country.”