THE TIMES OF INDIA

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2003

Iraq needs $20 bln to rebuild power network

REUTERS

BAGHDAD: Iraq needs $20 billion to revive its crippled power supply, hit by
postwar sabotage and dilapidation caused by years of UN trade sanctions, an
Iraqi minister said on Saturday.

"We need twenty billion dollars in the next three years to at least bring
the power production up to 18,000 megawatts (MW)," Iraq's newly-appointed
Electricity Minister Ayham Sameraei told a news conference.

He said that was the estimate of his ministry and the US-led civil
administration which has been ruling Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein's
government five months ago.

Iraq's elderly power stations provide power only for a few hours a day.
Sanctions deprived them of spare parts, forcing workers to use cannibalised
equipment to keep them going, the minister said.

He said he would soon travel to the United States to lobby for cash to
rebuild the power system.

President George W Bush has asked Congress to approve a $20 billion budget
for Iraq's reconstruction.

"I hope that six billion dollars out of that money will be allocated for
electricity," Samaraei said.

He said he would also travel to New York to discuss with UN officials how to
restart multi-million dollar contracts which Saddam's government signed with
foreign companies, under an oil-for-food deal with the United Nations, to
provide spare parts and other services for the electricity industry.

The oil pact allowed Iraq to sell oil to buy food, medicine and other
humanitarian items to offset the effects of sanctions, which were lifted in
May.

Before the US-led war that ousted Saddam, Iraq used to produce 4,500 MW of
electricity. Postwar looting and sabotage has reduced that to 3,500, while
current demand is estimated at 9,000 and expected to rise quickly.

"We are planning to increase production to 4,000 MW by the end of this year,
to 10,000 MW in two years and to 18,000 in three years," he said.

Samaraei is one of 25 ministers appointed last month by the US-picked
interim Iraqi Governing Council.

The new ministers oversee the day-to-day running of their departments while
major policy decisions are taken in consultation with the US-led authority
and Governing Council.

Iraq is struggling to rebuild its infrastructure and industry five months
after the fall of Baghdad but its efforts are being undermined by frequent
power cuts, in part due to sabotage.

The erratic power supply is especially hitting Iraq's oil production and
exports, which had been expected to fund national reconstruction.

Power shortages have deepened anti-American sentiment. Some Iraqis say they
suspect US troops of intentionally dragging their feet.

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