PRT WASIT PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INTERESTS JOIN HANDS

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 000406 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ECIN ECON IZ SUBJECT: PRT WASIT PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INTERESTS JOIN HANDS OVER HOUSING PROJECT ¶1. (U) This is a PRT Wasit reporting cable. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Wasit Provincial Government has declared its full commitment to supporting a large privately financed housing development project planned for al-Kut. This multi-year project will provide over eight-hundred apartments for middle income families. This project will put to the test the stated resolve of provincial institutions to facilitate private investment, even as it pushes the limits of essential services delivery in the area. Governor Latif Hamad al-Turfah states that this project will set the benchmark that potential investors will use to gauge the viability of future large-scale privately-funded projects in Wasit. PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENT / PUBLIC SECTOR SUPPORT - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶3. (SBU) An Iraqi company, Al-Hamra, has begun preliminary site work in al-Kut and construction drawings are in development. At a Wasit Investment Commission (WIC) sponsored project meeting, Governor Turfah and influential Provincial Council Chairman Mahmud Abd al-Rida Talal encouraged cooperation between stakeholders and set the express expectation that provincial officials work as facilitators to the project and not, in the words of the Governor, as &impediments to investment.8 Al-Hamra representatives noted their intent to use local labor and materials whenever practical for the project and their engineering staff spoke in detail to municipal service managers regarding planned construction techniques, as well as the project,s significant electrical and water requirements. ¶4. (SBU) The Governor noted that while state-driven foreign investment such as the Chinese development of oil resources in Wasit were on-going, this type of privately executed project was critical for the future development of the province. The Governor recognized the project,s positive impact on local job creation and dismissed queries related to the inclusion of a mosque in the project scope-of-work as irrelevant to the discussions. Governor Turfah engaged in a public shouting match with a local reporter during the meeting, apparently upset over recent reporting critical of his performance and had the al-Sharqiyah Channel reporter and cameraman ejected from the meeting. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: Large scale private investment in Wasit remains theoretical at this time; the Wasit Investment Commission is very active but its effectiveness is difficult to gauge. As the province moves towards more decentralized governmental functions, it might also gravitate towards increased private enterprise and entrepreneurship. Provincial government may have limited tools in which to facilitate investment, but as Governor Turfah stated, it can at the very least remove the bureaucratic roadblocks that suppress it. END COMMENT. FORD