Iraq needs up to $15 billion for water repairs
Tue Jun 28, 2005 11:39
By Ibon Villelabeitia
AMMAN (Reuters) - Iraq, the land of two rivers that once irrigated the world's earliest civilisations, needs up to $15 billion to repair a dilapidated water system crippled by war and neglect, the country's water minister said on Tuesday.
More than two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the country of the Euphrates and the Tigris is struggling with recurrent water shortages in Baghdad and other large cities, poor sanitation and a shattered irrigation network.
Water Resources Minister Latif Rashid said guerrillas intent on undermining the new government are much to blame for the current water crisis and said pledged reconstruction money has been slow to materialize.
"Iraq is a country rich in water resources. We have large reservoirs, two large rivers, a large number of river branches, adequate ground water, the marshland area," Rashid told Reuters on the sidelines of a reconstruction conference in Amman.
"What Iraq needs is large investments."
Rashid said the bill for repairing and building dams, irrigation canals, sewage systems and purification stations for drinking water amounts to "something between $10-15 billion."
REBUILDING SYSTEM
The United States earmarked $3.7 billion to help rebuild Iraq's water system but a large part of that cash has been cut back, swallowed by security cuts, he said.
"They (the Americans) have started some projects in our ministry. I think we are getting probably a total cost for the projects of $400 million and they have started spending that amount of money," Rashid said.
A donors' meeting is scheduled for next month in Amman.
Last week, two million Baghdadis went without fresh water after officials said insurgents sabotaged one of the main water plants that feed the Iraqi capital, where summer temperatures can top 50 Celsius (122 Fahrenheit).
"We suffer daily from terrorists sabotaging our infrastructure. There was serious damage in Baghdad ... but most of it has been repaired," Rashid said.
Water and electricity shortages are draining residents' confidence in the new Shi'ite-led government, elected five months ago in polls many hoped would bring order and good governance.
Iraq needs an estimated 15,000 megawatts of power a day but it only generates 5,000 megawatts, according to Rashid.
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