BAGHDAD, April 26: US military engineers and Iraqi workers have ensured about 60 per cent of normal water and power supplies are available in Baghdad, with full services set to resume within a week or two, US officials said on Saturday.
Brigadier General Steve Hawkins of the US Army engineers told reporters in the Iraqi capital that much depended on the return of Iraqi workers and the ability to mobilise crews to restore broken water and electricity lines.
“It’s going to take one to two weeks to get that back up,” Hawkins said. He said all water pumping stations supplying Baghdad were working.
“Our estimate is that about 60-65 per cent of people are receiving water, because there are water breaks in the line,” he said, adding that Baghdad suffered disruption to power and water supplies even before the US-led war to oust Saddam Hussein.
Officials said more than half of Iraq’s gasoline needs were being met by the Baiji refinery in the north and Baghdad’s Doura refinery. He said gasoline was also expected from Basra within a week, and failing that it would be imported from Kuwait and other Gulf countries.
Hawkins and other US officials working with retired general Jay Garner, head of the US civil administration charged with rebuilding Iraq, acknowledged security in Baghdad remained a concern and that lack of communications was a problem affecting both the US military and civilian administrators.
Major General Carl Strock, senior engineering adviser in Garner’s team, said the US administration realised they needed to clarify who was in charge of the city.
An Iraqi former exile, Mohammed Mohsen Zubaidi, says he has been selected by his compatriots as governor of Baghdad, but US officials have said they do not recognise his authority.
“We do realise there is tremendous confusion that needs to be clarified.” Strock said. Many Iraqis have complained that the US has not done enough to restore services and law and order to Baghdad since toppling Saddam.—Reuters
