IRAQ: BECHTEL THE U.S. COMPANY AWARDED MAIN CONTRACT FOR REBUILDING IRAQ HOLD MEETINGS WITH LOCAL CONTRACTORS

Record ID: 183961

  • Title: IRAQ: BECHTEL THE U.S. COMPANY AWARDED MAIN CONTRACT FOR REBUILDING IRAQ HOLD MEETINGS WITH LOCAL CONTRACTORS
  • Date: 15th July 2003
  • Summary: (W4) BASRA, IRAQ (JULY 13, 2003)(REUTERS) 1. SLV MEETING IN PROGRESS (8 SHOTS) 1.10 2. (SOUNDBITE)(English) ALI AL-MUSAWEE IN CHARGE OF THE RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAMME IN IRAQ, SAYING "Bechtel Power Corporation has been invited to participate by the USAID to rebuild Iraq with this initial contract of $680 million (U.S. dollars) to repair the whole airports and the seaports and the power generation, transmission and distribution and also the bridges, the demolished roads and also the buildings, from primary schools to secondary schools, universities, hospitals and all the infrastructure. Also I cannot forget the importance of the communications system for the telephone system and faxes for the internal and international communications." 1.56 3. SLV PAN MEETING IN PROGRESS 2.08 4. (SOUNDBITE)(English) AL-MUSAWEE SAYING "They have a specific interest in getting rebuilding the infrastructure of Iraq and transferring the technology to the Iraqi engineers and technicians and to uplift their standard of work with quality control and quality assurance and also the industrial safety programmes." 2.33 5. SLV MEETING 2.44 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 30th July 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BASRA, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVACBHTX8NM36HU12W2OJSSCN2Y0
  • Story Text: Bechtel, the United States company which was awarded
    the main contract for rebuilding Iraq, has begun holding
    meetings with local contractors in the Southern city of Basra.

    Personnel from U.S. engineering firm Bechtel met local
    contractors on Sunday (July 13, 2003) in Basra.

    The U.S. firm was given a 680 million US dollars contract
    in April to repair Iraq's infrastructure which had depreciated
    after more that 10 years under United Nations sanction and was
    battered further in the war and then looted.

    U.S. forces targeted much of Iraq's communications network
    during the war because of their strategic interest and there
    has been a great deal of damage done by looters.

    USAID has awarded eight contracts and three grants for
    Iraq's reconstruction so far, with the biggest chunk going to
    Bechtel.

    Ali Al-Musawee, who is in charge of the reconstruction
    programme in Iraq, said, "Bechtel Power Corporation has been
    invited to participate by the USAID to rebuild Iraq with this
    initial contract of 680 million US Dollars to repair the whole
    airports and the seaports and the power generation, transmission
    and distribution and also the bridges, the demolished roads and
    also the buildings, from primary schools to secondary schools,
    universities, hospitals and all the infrastructure.

    Also I cannot forget the importance of the communications
    system for the telephone system and faxes for the internal and
    international communications."
    The first Bechtel project covers rebuilding a 1,243 mile
    (2,000 km) fibre optic "backbone" from Mosul in the north
    through Baghdad to Nasiriya and Umm Qasr in the south.

    The second project was aimed at partially reconstituting
    the public switched network in Baghdad. Ten of 33 switches
    were damaged during the war and USAID said the plan was to
    install four switches that would restore 120,000 telephone
    lines out of 280,000 not currently working.

    Another goal was to install a satellite gateway that would
    enable about half of the country to make international calls
    by mid to late August.

    The U.S.-led administration in Iraq is still working on
    plans for a new cell phone network for the country and has not
    yet decided which of two rival technologies to use, an Iraqi
    ministry official told Reuters in Baghdad.

    A contract for Iraq's economic recovery and reform is
    expected to be handed out by the end of July at the earliest
    and an agricultural contract would probably be signed by
    September. A higher education contract is also pending.


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