 U.S. Military
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started work on a Basrah pavement and sewer project in November 2007, according to Ferdinand Guese, project engineer with the USACE Gulf Region South district. The new project aims to complete the paving of various streets in Al-Maqil, a neighborhood in the northern part of Basrah City, Guese said. It also entails completing work on an unfinished sewer construction project, finishing the repair of 20 linear meters of two-foot high masonry fence and repairing a section of drainage pipe that was damaged during construction of the Basrah sewers in 2006. Alaa, a project engineer with GRS's Basrah Area Office, said the Al-Maqil road repair project will entail putting a five centimeter overlay over the existing 10 centimeter pavement on the roads. "The contractor supplies all the equipment, labor, and materials necessary to pave 10,700 linear meters of street with asphalt in Al-Maqil neighborhood," he said. Guese said the $1.7 million project will directly and indirectly provide jobs to more than 75 Iraqis in Basrah City. "Al-Maqil district...is in close proximity to many Iraqi Security Forces facilities that include the Shat Al-Arab Hotel, an important Iraqi Army facility in Basrah City, Basrah Prison, and various police stations," Guese said "After the turnover of security control of Basrah Province from the British to the Iraqi Army in December 2007, Al-Maqil and its surrounding ISF facilities gained increased prominence in maintaining control of the area," he said. The road rehabilitation in this area is seen as a very positive thing and has the full support of the immediate local population, he added. An Iraqi citizen who lives in Al- Maqil neighborhood said, "I'm very happy to see the construction work on these streets which have been neglected more than 20 years. The residents here highly appreciate the improvements that have taken place in their neighborhood." Note: A. Al Bahrani is a Public Affairs Specialist with the Gulf Region South district, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Iraq. ADDITIONAL PHOTO:
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