BAGHDAD, 30 March 2004 — US overseer Paul Bremer yesterday said he expected 50,000 Iraqis to be working on construction sites across the war-wrecked country by the coalition’s June 30 deadline for the transfer of sovereignty.
“The contracts are signed and in the coming weeks the dirt will begin to fly on construction jobs all over Iraq,” Bremer told reporters in the Iraqi capital.
“By the time Iraq is sovereign on June 30, 50,000 Iraqis will be working on jobs funded” by the United States government, with tens of thousands of additional jobs in the pipeline when 2,300 projects get underway, he said. The US Congress has earmarked $18.4 billion for reconstruction in Iraq, more than a third of the $55 billion that the World Bank estimates will be necessary to get the war-torn country back on its feet.
The head of the US office managing rebuilding funds in Iraq, David Nash, told reporters that seven program and sector management contracts have been signed and that capacity contracts were also sealed.
“Now we can turn our attention to managing the 2,300 projects,” he said.
Construction will start in six key sectors — electricity; water resources and public works; security and justice; transportation and communications; buildings, education and health; and oil, Nash said. Around $12 billion will be spent on construction proper while $6 billion will go toward non-construction projects such as civic affairs and nation-building, Nash added.
