Friday, September 16
Baathist HQ Will Become New Iraqi Cop Shop
Basrah, Iraq – A shot rang out from the nearby vicinity, but the trio of visitors noticed that the workers continued laboring behind the thick, twenty-foot-high walls without a pause or so much as a raised head. The compound is being visited because it was once a hotbed of those affiliated with the previous Iraqi dictator and – like the country itself – currently is receiving a major overhaul. Before long, the compound will become the Basrah Provincial Police Headquarters – a change symbolic of the move from rule of the few to rule by the people. At the site where Ba’athist zealots once strove to maintain dominion over the masses, hardworking, local laborers energetically worked to rebuild the large structure. The first phase, the renovation of buildings one and two, is complete; the second phase, renovation of building three is 90 percent complete, and phase three, the demolition of unnecessary structures is 25 percent complete. The compound visitors are Karen Durham-Aguilera, Project and Contracting (PCO) Director of Programs, Tom Eidson, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region South (GRS) Basrah Area Engineer, and Stan Dowdy, GRS Basrah Palace Resident Office resident engineer. They came to observe this particular piece of the reconstruction effort – just one of 2,827 starts valued at $6.6 B, initiated across Iraq by the USACE Gulf Region Division and the PCO in the past year. Of those numerous starts, 1,728 reconstruction projects, at a value of $2B, have been completed so far. Noting the outstanding work being done, particularly in such a tense environment, Eidson complimented the many Iraqi workers and placed emphasis on the dedicated, conscientious work performed by the Iraqi engineers. “These folks understand what is at stake. They recognize that it is they who must step forward and accept increasingly larger responsibility for the rebuilding of their country,” said Eidson. “This project speaks well of their commitment.” Weblog LINK |
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