KARBALA: HOSTS MUNICIPALITIES CONFERENCE AND OIL MINISTER

UNCLAS HILLAH 000113 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV EIND EPET SUBJECT: KARBALA: HOSTS MUNICIPALITIES CONFERENCE AND OIL MINISTER ¶1. (U) This is a PRT Karbala cable. ¶2. (U) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: This week Karbala's elected government officials appear to be more publicly pursuing reconstruction projects and efforts, perhaps in preparation for provincial elections. The Governor hosted the first regional municipality conference focused on improving public service delivery and included the participation of delegations from Wasit, Najaf, Diwaniyah and Babil. Oil Minister, Hussain Sharistani visited Karbala to preside over the formal ribbon cutting and laying of the foundation stone for a processed oil storage facility. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. 3.(U) On July 14 and 15 the Karbala Government hosted a conference on municipal services. More than 150 civil servants and elected officials from Diwaniyah, Babil, Najaf and Wasit joined the host delegation from Karbala to discuss public service delivery. The delegations presented their best practices on public works and collectively established a regional municipality coordination committee. Central government participation included the Ministry of Municipalities, Information Technology Office and Iraqi Parliament member Muthihr al-Hakeem. Conference outcomes included a decision to privatize waste collection and plans to increase private sector involvement in public service delivery. The five provinces appealed to the central government representatives for assistance with several points: more and coordination committee's first task is to develop multi-provincial projects such as transfer stations, landfills and recycling centers. 4.(U) On July 23, the Minister of Oil, Dr. Husain al-Sharistani and Parliament representative Mudher al-Hakeem laid the foundation stone for an oil product storage facility. It will store an estimated 64 million liters of improved benzene and 20 million liters of white kerosene and LPG to meet the fuel needs of Karbala. The completion of this project will precede the oil refinery that was promised to Karbala in September 2006. The oil refinery project is promised to process 150 thousand barrels daily and provide four of the five south central provinces (specifically: Najaf, Babil, and Diwaniyah) with needed fuel. REED