Friday, September 07, 2007
$50 mn. compensation for Al Anbar
(Voices of Iraq) - A total of 50 million USD has been allocated to compensate those harmed in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, in addition to another 70 million USD for reconstructing the city, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Burham Saleh said on Thursday morning.
Speaking at the first session of the second forum on the reconstruction of the province, the deputy premier said that 50 million USD had been allocated for owners of houses and stores that were partially or totally destroyed in the violent acts in the province, while another USD 70 million had been allocated to reconstruct the province.
Saleh was delivered Prime Minister Nouri al-Malikis' address at the event. The second forum on reconstructing the province kicked off this morning with the participation of the two vice presidents, Tareq al-Hashemi and Adel Abdul Mahdi, in addition to Burham Saleh and the Minister of State for National Security Shirwan al-Waili. The province's infrastructure was destroyed in armed attacks in 2005.
Speaking at the first session of the second forum on the reconstruction of the province, the deputy premier said that 50 million USD had been allocated for owners of houses and stores that were partially or totally destroyed in the violent acts in the province, while another USD 70 million had been allocated to reconstruct the province.
Saleh was delivered Prime Minister Nouri al-Malikis' address at the event. The second forum on reconstructing the province kicked off this morning with the participation of the two vice presidents, Tareq al-Hashemi and Adel Abdul Mahdi, in addition to Burham Saleh and the Minister of State for National Security Shirwan al-Waili. The province's infrastructure was destroyed in armed attacks in 2005.
Labels: Al Anbar, compensation, Dr. Burham Saleh
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Electricity output meets only half of domestic needs
Electricity
(Azzaman) - The Ministry of Electricity has finally acknowledged its inability to meet the country’s needs, blaming the current chronic shortages on lack of fuel. Informed sources at the ministry said current output was less than half what the country needs amid soaring temperatures brushing 50 degrees centigrade. The sources said electrical generation capacity is even worse than in the months before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
The ministry blames the present prolonged outages, which may continue non-stop in certain areas for several consecutive days, on fuel shortages. Rows are reported to have broken out at cabinet meetings between Oil Minister Hussain Shahristani and Electricity Minister Kareem Hassan over fuel supplies. Hassan is said to have accused Shahristani of failing to honor commitments to supply power stations with their fuel needs, saying that much of the reduced capacity is due to stoppages caused by lack of fuel.
Deputy Prime Minister Burham Saleh, who heads the government’s economic commission, has said Shahristani has consistently showed “non-commitment to make available the fuel quantities the Ministry of Electricity needs.” Besides power problems, the country faces severe fuel shortages with refineries running at much below capacity. Iraq currently spends hundreds of millions of dollars on fuel imports from neighboring countries.
Aziz Shammari of the Electricity Ministry said the country had never witnessed “this kind of power crisis” since the 1990s when punitive U.N. trade sanctions were still in placed. “Electricity generation can hardly meet half of the country’s needs. Power output has never been as worse as it is today since 2003,” Shammari said.
The ministry blames the present prolonged outages, which may continue non-stop in certain areas for several consecutive days, on fuel shortages. Rows are reported to have broken out at cabinet meetings between Oil Minister Hussain Shahristani and Electricity Minister Kareem Hassan over fuel supplies. Hassan is said to have accused Shahristani of failing to honor commitments to supply power stations with their fuel needs, saying that much of the reduced capacity is due to stoppages caused by lack of fuel.
Deputy Prime Minister Burham Saleh, who heads the government’s economic commission, has said Shahristani has consistently showed “non-commitment to make available the fuel quantities the Ministry of Electricity needs.” Besides power problems, the country faces severe fuel shortages with refineries running at much below capacity. Iraq currently spends hundreds of millions of dollars on fuel imports from neighboring countries.
Aziz Shammari of the Electricity Ministry said the country had never witnessed “this kind of power crisis” since the 1990s when punitive U.N. trade sanctions were still in placed. “Electricity generation can hardly meet half of the country’s needs. Power output has never been as worse as it is today since 2003,” Shammari said.
Labels: Dr. Burham Saleh, fuel shortages, Hussain al-Shahristani, Kareem Hassan, Ministry of Electricity
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Iraqi govt has high hopes for International Pact
Sharm el-Sheikh conference
(Voices of Iraq) - The Iraqi government hopes the International Pact with Iraq, to be announced next week, will become a turning point in Iraq's ties with the international community and help it obtain the financial and political support needed to achieve aspired to political, economic and security reforms. The pact is to be declared during the international conference that will coincide with the expanded ministerial meeting, on May 3-4, to be hosted by Egypt at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The outcome of a World Bank-backed joint Iraq-UN initiative, the pact was discussed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon during a visit to Baghdad last month. Kuwait hosted the high-level preparatory meeting on the international pact with Iraq on October 31, 2006, which was attended by representatives of 14 Arab and foreign countries, as well as international organizations.
The pact, which envisages a period of five years for re-building the war-scarred Iraq, was promoted by the UN chief who invited 100 countries and international finance organizations to contribute. Iraqi officials' statements ahead of the two meetings affirm a genuine inclination to break the political and economic isolation of their country.
The Iraqi government hopes "this pact will act as a roadmap towards (restoring) Iraq's stability and turn it into a secure federal, democratic and united country that depends on market economy," Iraqi Deputy Premier Dr. Burham Saleh said. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari said Iraq, during the two forthcoming conferences, will put participating countries before their responsibilities in order to stop the deterioration of security in Iraq and to contribute to its reconstruction and economy.
On the energy sector, Saleh said "the government has ambitious programs to increase oil production from the 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) at present to 4.2 million bpd in 2010 and 6 million bpd in 2012. The government will take steps to improve the investment climate and develop the private sector to prepare for merging Iraq into the regional and world economies," said Iraqi deputy prime minister.
The idea of the pact involves commitments on the part of Iraq to develop a secure country that is effective in its regional and international environs and a "rational government" that will democratically represent all Iraqis." The Iraqi five-year plan hopes to attain an economic growth rate of 15.4 percent in 2007, compared to only 3 percent last year, and to enhance the country's oil exports to reach 3.5 million bpd by 2011, which would help double the annual revenue to approximately 50 billion dollars.
The outcome of a World Bank-backed joint Iraq-UN initiative, the pact was discussed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon during a visit to Baghdad last month. Kuwait hosted the high-level preparatory meeting on the international pact with Iraq on October 31, 2006, which was attended by representatives of 14 Arab and foreign countries, as well as international organizations.
The pact, which envisages a period of five years for re-building the war-scarred Iraq, was promoted by the UN chief who invited 100 countries and international finance organizations to contribute. Iraqi officials' statements ahead of the two meetings affirm a genuine inclination to break the political and economic isolation of their country.
The Iraqi government hopes "this pact will act as a roadmap towards (restoring) Iraq's stability and turn it into a secure federal, democratic and united country that depends on market economy," Iraqi Deputy Premier Dr. Burham Saleh said. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari said Iraq, during the two forthcoming conferences, will put participating countries before their responsibilities in order to stop the deterioration of security in Iraq and to contribute to its reconstruction and economy.
On the energy sector, Saleh said "the government has ambitious programs to increase oil production from the 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) at present to 4.2 million bpd in 2010 and 6 million bpd in 2012. The government will take steps to improve the investment climate and develop the private sector to prepare for merging Iraq into the regional and world economies," said Iraqi deputy prime minister.
The idea of the pact involves commitments on the part of Iraq to develop a secure country that is effective in its regional and international environs and a "rational government" that will democratically represent all Iraqis." The Iraqi five-year plan hopes to attain an economic growth rate of 15.4 percent in 2007, compared to only 3 percent last year, and to enhance the country's oil exports to reach 3.5 million bpd by 2011, which would help double the annual revenue to approximately 50 billion dollars.
Labels: Dr. Burham Saleh, Hoshyar Zibari, International Pact with Iraq, Sharm al-Sheikh Conference
