Team helps Iraqi village rebuild

KIRKUK, Iraq -- A common theme resonates from village to village in the seven northern Iraqi Governates: They're rebuilding and getting stronger.

Thanks to the efforts of the Projects and Contracting Office North, that rebuilding is taking place al a phenomenal pace.

Armed with more than $150 million in seized Iraqi funds re utilized for development and reconstruction, PCO North has brought materials, supplies and labor to bear in bringing a new livelihood and brighter outlook to northern Iraq.

"We began work here as part of the Coalition Provisional Authority's Program Management Office, before the transfer of power," said Lt. Col. Peter Keish, PCO North director of contracts. "PCO North became official following the transfer of sovereignty in June, but the mission remains the same: Rebuild northern Iraq?"

Since inception, PCO North has undertaken more than 1,000 projects to improve the quality of life, as well as instill community identity, to a proud and long-neglected people.

"The long list of projects and purchases has no commonality other than the need to rebuild every imaginable aspect of a communities' makeup," said Colonel Keish. "We've built homes, bought backhoes, purchased shoes, soccer balls, computers, books, even sheep. We bought practically anything the Iraqi's needed to breathe lift: back into their villages."

For PCO North, the area of responsibility includes Dohuk, Irbil, Sulimaniya, Mosul, Tikrit, Baquba and Kirkuk.

Salar Said, a PCO project officer in the Irbil area, grew up in northern Iraq before moving to the United States to study civil engineering and escape the Hussein regimes practice of fratricide in the north.

"As we began to rebuild what was most important, what meant the most to the people was having the basic of needs met so they could again build their communities," he said. "We started by drilling wells and installing pumping stations to move water to large elevated holding tanks that could supply the villages. Meeting this basic need allowed the villagers to move forward into agricultural projects, road construction, power distribution and more."

According to Mr. Said, northern Iraqis have rebuilt more than 3,000 villages, and with it, their sense of community identity.

"As you travel around northern Iraq you see pride again. You see Iraqis giving coalitions forces the thumbs up, shaking hands with them as partners and liberators," he said.

-- Capt. Mike Strickler 506th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs

COPYRIGHT 2004 U.S. Air Force, Air Force News Agency
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group