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Blackanthem Military News
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Last Updated:
Feb 3, 2012 - 5:53:02 PM |
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Bayji fertilizer plant receives $6.6 million
By Sgt. Joshua R. Ford, Public Affairs Office, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division
Aug 9, 2007 - 5:47:57 PM
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| Amed Abdullah, director of production for the Bayji Fertilizer Plant holds a check for more than $6 million, which was presented by Paul A. Brinkley, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Business Transformation, Aug. 7, 2007, in Bayji, Iraq. The facility will use the money to buy new equipment and hire employees. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Joshua R. Ford (released) |
Blackanthem Military News, BAYJI, Iraq — Paul A. Brinkley, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Business Transformation, and Brig. Gen. Francis Wiercinski, 25th Infantry Division Deputy Commanding General of Support, presented a check for more than $6 million to Hamed Hamood Shekti, governor of Salah ad Din province, and Amed Abdulah, plant director for the Bayji Fertilizer Plant Aug. 7, 2007, in Bayji, Iraq.
The money will be used to hire personnel and buy equipment to re-open the fertilizer plant, as the economic reward is part of a country-wide push, giving money to different organizations in Iraq to build the country’s economic infrastructure.
“I have had the opportunity to visit this factory on two occasions prior, and each time I was very much aware of the opportunity that exists here to restore economic vitality within Salah ad Din province, the workers in this factory and the agricultural sector in this area,” said Brinkley.
“I am convinced based upon my visits with the leadership of this factory, seeing the exports that used to take place here, the profitability that existed in this factory; that this enterprise can once again be a vibrant, thriving business that helps sustain economic growth across all of northern Iraq and the agriculture sector,” said Brinkley. “We have one objective and that is to restore full production to this facility.”
The fertilizer plant opened in 1989 but has been unsteady in its production of urea-based fertilizer. For nearly 20 years, the plant’s production and revenue has shown inconsistency because of the national government’s inability to fund it. The aftermath from the Iran-Iraq War – which lasted from 1980 to 1988, 12 years of U.N. sanctions imposed on the country after the Persian Gulf War, and the past five years of transition from Saddam Hussein’s regime hindered the plant’s success.
In 2003 the plant took a major dive in production meeting only 18 percent of its annual maximum production, which is 500,000 tons of fertilizer. By 2006, the plant’s production had decreased to only 2 percent of its yearly goal.
“Today is a great day for Salah ad Din,” said Hamed. “It is a very important day for the whole country.”
Brinkley is expects to present an additional $4 million from Iraq’s Agriculture Ministry to the fertilizer plant at a future date, he said.
ADDITIONAL PHOTO:
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| Paul A. Brinkley, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Business Transformation, presents a check for more than $6 million to employees of the Bayji Fertilizer Plant Aug. 7, 2007, in Bayji, Iraq. The facility will use the money to buy new equipment and hire employees. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Joshua R. Ford (released) |
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