US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT2402

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 KUWAIT 002402 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO PASS USAID/W 
STATE PLEASE REPEAT TO IO COLLECTIVE 
STATE FOR PRM/ANE, EUR/SE, NEA/NGA, IO AND SA/PAB 
NSC FOR EABRAMS, SMCCORMICK, STAHIR-KHELI, JDWORKEN 
USAID FOR USAID/A, DCHA/AA, DCHA/RMT, DCHA/FFP 
USAID FOR DCHA/OTI, DCHA/DG, ANE/AA 
USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA:WGARVELINK, BMCCONNELL, KFARNSWORTH 
USAID FOR ANE/AA:WCHAMBERLIN 
ROME FOR FODAG 
GENEVA FOR RMA AND NKYLOH 
DOHA FOR MSHIRLEY 
ANKARA FOR AMB WRPEARSON, ECON AJSIROTIC AND DART 
AMMAN FOR USAID AND DART 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, PREF, IZ, WFP 
SUBJECT:  DART ASSESSMENT OF AL KUT 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  DART Field Team South visited Al Kut from 20 to 22 May 
and participated in three assistance coordination meetings 
that regularly take place in the city.  The meetings 
provided an overview of the issues and needs currently being 
addressed in Wasit Governorate by Coalition forces, local 
Iraqi leadership, and NGOs.  The visit also highlighted a 
critical issue for continued reconstruction efforts at the 
Governorate level in Iraq.  End Summary. 
 
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PRIORITY RESTORATION OF ELECTRICITY 
----------------------------------- 
 
2.  The Coalition Civil Affairs Commander described 
restoration of electrical power in Wasit Governorate as the 
most pressing problem.  The goal is to meet an estimated 
Governorate need of 172 megawatts (MW). To date, the 
Governorate only receives 75 MW.  Electricity is being 
acquired through coordination with other regional producers 
(e.g., 50 MW from An Nasiriyah, 15 to 20 MW from Baghdad, 
etc.).  There have been difficulties, however, with 
facilities in Baghdad not providing the promised amount of 
power and unscheduled shut downs affecting other utilities. 
Work continues on restoring 132 regional power lines and 
repairing damaged towers. 
 
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AGRICULTURE 
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3.  The Coalition Civil Affairs Commander said the purchase 
of locally produced wheat is the region's second largest 
problem.  Under the previous regime, the government 
purchased locally grown wheat that was included in food 
rations distributed to the public.  At the town council 
meeting, the Commander expressed the need for the Office of 
Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) to 
consider the intricacies of wheat procurement and the 
immediacy of the problem.  (Comment:  The impact of the 
wheat purchase decision will be felt immediately in the 
south, where the DART observed farmers harvesting throughout 
the region.  End Comment.) 
 
4.  Last year's crop remains stored in silos but is unusable 
due to mold.  The Commander said the old stock needs to be 
destroyed and policy and procedures established for purchase 
of the new crop.  There was also considerable discussion in 
the town council meeting about the need to stop the 
slaughter of animals inside the market, to re-open the 
slaughterhouses outside the city limits, and to put meat 
inspectors back to work.  Another priority will be to 
procure fertilizer for the yellow corn crop but the Basrah 
fertilizer plant is reportedly not operating due to 
insecurity and damage. 
 
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
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5.  The Coalition obtained Defense Department funding to 
help the town council purchase telephones for key agencies, 
including the traffic police and court offices.  Four 
hundred and fifty telephone lines have been restored and 
work continues on the installation of a new central 
switchboard.  Phones are being installed in all the schools 
to ensure emergency response capacity.  Several billion 
Iraqi dinars are reported to be in the telecommunications 
accounts.  It appears the money is in the Governate Ministry 
of Telecommunications accounts because the Coalition and 
local treasury personnel are assessing the actual amounts. 
 
6.  The Coalition, using money from seized government bank 
accounts, has begun the payment of April salaries to 
thousands of civil servants.  The Civil Affairs team is 
overseeing the inspection of bank vaults to determine the 
available cash in the city. 
 
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FIRE DEPARTMENT 
--------------- 
 
7.  Al Kut's fire department responded to its first fire 
since the war ended, and the overall assessment was that the 
response was a success.  The designated Coalition Civil 
Affairs officer (who is also a volunteer fireman in his 
hometown in the United States) noted the department is 
hampered by a lack of radio communications equipment and 
protective gear.   The officer said he is pursuing an idea 
to have fire departments in the United States adopt a 
Governorate's fire department and to provide it with 
financial and technical support.  But he said one looming 
problem is the cost of transporting donated equipment and 
supplies. 
 
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FUEL SUPPLIES 
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8.  Baghdad refineries, the usual source for all fuel in the 
Governorate, continue to operate at less than 50 percent 
capacity.  Coordination of fuel distribution remains a major 
problem.  Propane trucks were sent to Basrah to acquire 
propane gas and were filled but were diverted to Baghdad. 
Meanwhile, the Coalition and local oil industry 
representatives continue to inspect existing gas lines.  Key 
pipelines from An Nasiriyah, for diesel, gas and, propane, 
have been damaged and repairs may take more than a month to 
complete.  Long lines of drivers waiting at gas stations 
have largely disappeared, however, and one reason for the 
change is the sale of gasoline on the black market. 
Apparently, some vendors have tapped into a gas line that 
was full, but abandoned during the Iran-Iraq war.   The fuel 
is over 10 years old and of very poor quality. 
 
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HEALTH CARE 
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9.  The Director of Al Kut's Health Department noted receipt 
of USD 10,000's worth of medicines and supplies from the 
International Medical Corps (IMC) that are being distributed 
free of charge in the area's hospitals.  The scarcity of 
chronic care drugs, for the treatment of cancer and other 
diseases, however, remains a problem, and some people are 
resorting to the purchase of medicines on the black market. 
The Director praised the DART for the recent signing of an 
agreement with IMC for the rehabilitation of the 
Governorate's Public Health Office. 
 
10.  He said there is a continuing problem with the limited 
supply of oxygen and raised the possibility of making 
repairs to the local oxygen bottling plant to produce enough 
containers to supply the area's hospitals' needs.  (Note: 
The DART, the Health Director, Civil Affairs Medical Liaison 
officers, and IMC later met with the plant director and a 
plan was put in place to find the necessary spare parts for 
his equipment to enable his facility to meet the hospitals' 
needs.  It was estimated that the hospitals need an average 
of 140 bottles of oxygen a day.  End Note.) 
 
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EDUCATION 
--------- 
 
11.  A contribution of USD 150,000 (source unknown) was 
distributed to local headmasters for the purchase of school 
supplies.  An election is also underway to determine the 
university leadership.  There were lengthy discussions in 
the city council meeting about final exams, and some 
students have protested the cancellation of the school year. 
The Coalition Civil Affairs Group Commander had received a 
request from a group of 12th graders asking for a delay in 
the final testing, coupled with an extended period of 
assistance from teachers for study and test preparation. 
The Commander supported this approach, calling on the school 
administrators to use local television to advertise the 
schedule for the exams' preparation. 
 
12.  The Director of Education was confronted by one of the 
Civil Affairs staff over reports that children from 
internally displaced persons (IDPs) were not being allowed 
to attend school.  The Director said many IDP families did 
not have the proper documentation.  The Coalition Civil 
Affairs Group Commander intervened, saying that paperwork 
should not be an impediment to children attending school. 
The Commander also noted that many children are still not 
attending school.  He stressed that the city officials have 
a personal responsibility to ensure that all children attend 
school.  The Commander later met with the teachers and 
encouraged them to honor their commitment to educate the 
youths. (Back payments of teacher salaries were completed by 
the end of May).  At the town council meeting, special 
thanks were given to Mercy Corps for helping to get rural 
schools operating again by providing USD 12,000 for the 
rural school bus operations. 
 
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VULNERABLE POPULATIONS 
---------------------- 
 
13.  The designated Civil Affairs Officer for the social 
services sector is encountering severe needs. There are 
4,800 families on the social welfare register, including the 
physically disabled, mentally handicapped, deaf, orphans, 
and indigents, who previously received monthly payments (ID 
15K to 22K per month) and other services (including propane 
cooking gas), who are presently not receiving any assistance 
and are in dire need.  Children from the orphanage are now 
living, more or less unassisted, in the offices of the 
Ministry of Social Services. 
 
14.  The DART met with the designated Civil Affairs officer 
and Ministry representatives and outlined a plan of action. 
The Civil Affairs officer will work with the representatives 
to draft a budget of immediate program 
needs.  After the meeting, the DART asked Mercy Corps 
International (MCI) to meet with the officer and Ministry 
representatives to see whether assistance might be provided 
within the context of MCI's current cooperative agreement 
with the DART. 
 
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AL KUT ACCOUNTING 
----------------- 
 
15.  During the Town Council and Sector meetings, municipal 
department heads were repeatedly encouraged to complete 
their budgets.  A Civil Affairs officer is overseeing the 
process of assembling the departmental budgets.  Employees 
of the treasury and accounting departments had taken home 
some of the government's computers to protect the data 
during the war and records of payments, funds and budgets 
are being reassembled as these computers are being brought 
back to the government offices.  The Civil Affairs officer 
is now establishing a new database to reconcile the various 
accounting systems. 
 
16.  This same officer is overseeing the inventory of all 
public funds in the various agencies and banks.  The Health 
Department and other public offices that receive small 
payments from the public were asked to turn in surplus 250 
Iraqi dinar notes for 10,000 notes to help free up the 
smaller denominations and to try to reverse the devaluation 
of the 10,000 Iraqi dinar notes. 
 
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WATER AND SANITATION 
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17.  The town council praised the city's sanitation workers 
for their work.   Garbage trucks and other vehicles have 
been collected from several ministries and are being used, 
in multiple shifts, to start carting away garbage from the 
city.  (Note.  Al Kut appeared to be one of the cleaner 
cities in the south, with avenues and neighborhoods largely 
devoid of trash.  Trashcans were also seen in various areas 
around the city.  End Note.)  The town council also praised 
the DART and MCI for planned repairs to the city's water 
treatment plant, which is in need of spare parts and 
equipment. 
 
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CONCLUSION 
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18.  An important element in rehabilitating governorate 
services in Wasit has been the leadership of the local 
Coalition Civil Affairs Group Commander.  In the town 
council and sectoral meetings, he regularly exhorted 
departmental heads to get out of their offices and talk to 
people to find out what they think of the government's 
services.  He has taken several early morning walks around 
the city to observe how offices are operating and to ask 
people what kind of job the government is doing.  He 
provided ready praise for successes by Iraqi department 
directors and their staffs, and encouraged creative thinking 
where problems were encountered. 
 
19.  The Commander's style of management appears to be 
entirely new to most, if not all, of the Iraqis attending 
the town council. Some appeared mystified; others were 
confused.  The enthusiasm of many others, however, was 
clear.  The Coalition Civil Affairs Group was ending its 
period of responsibility in Al Kut in late May.  Another 
Civil Affairs team is phasing in as the current team 
departs.  The new Civil Affairs team will have large shoes 
to fill and will need to show, through a steady turnover of 
management responsibility to the local Iraqi government, 
that the Coalition is committed to allowing Iraqis to govern 
themselves in a newly free and transparent system. 
 
JONES