thedrifter
03-02-08, 01:42 PM
Iraqi inaction in Fallujah has stalled reconstruction of local businesses
By Geoff Ziezulewicz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, March 2, 2008
FALLUJAH, Iraq — To hear him tell it, Khalid Zayouna’s factory here was so nice and modern that Marines commandeered it during 2004’s Battle of Fallujah.
But Modern Arab Finishing Co., Khalid’s family-owned factory that produced kitchen cabinets and doors, was destroyed during that epic fight. He wasn’t the only local business owner to lose out.
Most of Fallujah’s industrial heart and source of employment, known as the “Sina’a district,” was destroyed in the fighting.
More than three years later, Khalid said he still hasn’t gotten his business running again because he is waiting on promised insurance money from the federal government. Most Sina’a business owners are in the same boat.
In all, more than $100 million in insurance compensation was pledged by the Iraqi government to more than 40 Sina’a factory and business owners in early 2005. That money still has not materialized.
Iraqis and Americans on the ground say the money is a key part of building on the city’s security improvements of the last seven months. City officials said the district once accounted for roughly 70 percent of the city’s jobs.
But no one seems to know the status of the reconstruction money. Requests for comment to Iraq’s Ministry of Industry and Minerals and to the governor of Anbar province were not answered.
Although American and Iraqi sources in Fallujah referred specific questions to the U.S. Embassy’s Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, no embassy officials would comment on the status of the money, saying that it was an Iraqi project.
“I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of that myself,” Navy Capt. John Dal Santo of eastern Anbar’s provincial reconstruction team said when asked about the status of the money. “This would be an incredible economic stimulus package.”
“They promised,” said Muslah Al Sadoon, a prominent Fallujah lawyer. “We hear ‘promise, promise, promise’ many times. We don’t know why we are waiting.”
Ninety percent of Sina’a businesses remain closed today, he said, adding that the economic importance of getting Sina’a up and running cannot be understated.
Before the war, each factory employed between seven and 200 men, he said.
“That means seven to 200 families,” Muslah said.
To date, some home repair money has been distributed by the federal government, but not for Sina’a businesses, according to Maj. Robert Rice, executive officer for 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, the unit overseeing Fallujah. With the drop in violence, the Marines have spent their deployment working with locals on economic and infrastructure issues.
“Once that’s realized, that’ll be huge,” he said of the Sina’a funds.
Most businesses owners haven’t rebuilt on their own because they would lose their ability to collect the anticipated insurance money, Rice said.
For now, Khalid — who owns factories in Baghdad as well — said he is fed up by the delays.
“The government, they don’t like to do work,” he said. “Up to now, nobody takes action.”
The Sina’a businesses were Iraqi-owned and operated, Khalid said, and donor countries might be more willing to hand out aid if they see Iraq moving toward economic recovery.
Khalid said he passed letters about Sina’a to Iraqi politicians and American officials at all levels, but to no avail.
Before the war, he said his factory pumped out 350 doors in an eight-hour shift and employed 100 men.
“They need to reconstruct,” he said of Fallujah. “They need doors. We are in need of everything in this country.”
Fallujah residents were upset at the U.S. forces after the “big fight” in 2004, he said, but improved security has changed those sentiments.
Getting the factories rebuilt and people employed should be a strategic goal for keeping the peace in Fallujah, Khalid said.
“People will be happy to bring back again civil work,” he said. “They would all go back to work tomorrow. But they will not just sit here without income.”
Ellie
By Geoff Ziezulewicz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, March 2, 2008
FALLUJAH, Iraq — To hear him tell it, Khalid Zayouna’s factory here was so nice and modern that Marines commandeered it during 2004’s Battle of Fallujah.
But Modern Arab Finishing Co., Khalid’s family-owned factory that produced kitchen cabinets and doors, was destroyed during that epic fight. He wasn’t the only local business owner to lose out.
Most of Fallujah’s industrial heart and source of employment, known as the “Sina’a district,” was destroyed in the fighting.
More than three years later, Khalid said he still hasn’t gotten his business running again because he is waiting on promised insurance money from the federal government. Most Sina’a business owners are in the same boat.
In all, more than $100 million in insurance compensation was pledged by the Iraqi government to more than 40 Sina’a factory and business owners in early 2005. That money still has not materialized.
Iraqis and Americans on the ground say the money is a key part of building on the city’s security improvements of the last seven months. City officials said the district once accounted for roughly 70 percent of the city’s jobs.
But no one seems to know the status of the reconstruction money. Requests for comment to Iraq’s Ministry of Industry and Minerals and to the governor of Anbar province were not answered.
Although American and Iraqi sources in Fallujah referred specific questions to the U.S. Embassy’s Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, no embassy officials would comment on the status of the money, saying that it was an Iraqi project.
“I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of that myself,” Navy Capt. John Dal Santo of eastern Anbar’s provincial reconstruction team said when asked about the status of the money. “This would be an incredible economic stimulus package.”
“They promised,” said Muslah Al Sadoon, a prominent Fallujah lawyer. “We hear ‘promise, promise, promise’ many times. We don’t know why we are waiting.”
Ninety percent of Sina’a businesses remain closed today, he said, adding that the economic importance of getting Sina’a up and running cannot be understated.
Before the war, each factory employed between seven and 200 men, he said.
“That means seven to 200 families,” Muslah said.
To date, some home repair money has been distributed by the federal government, but not for Sina’a businesses, according to Maj. Robert Rice, executive officer for 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, the unit overseeing Fallujah. With the drop in violence, the Marines have spent their deployment working with locals on economic and infrastructure issues.
“Once that’s realized, that’ll be huge,” he said of the Sina’a funds.
Most businesses owners haven’t rebuilt on their own because they would lose their ability to collect the anticipated insurance money, Rice said.
For now, Khalid — who owns factories in Baghdad as well — said he is fed up by the delays.
“The government, they don’t like to do work,” he said. “Up to now, nobody takes action.”
The Sina’a businesses were Iraqi-owned and operated, Khalid said, and donor countries might be more willing to hand out aid if they see Iraq moving toward economic recovery.
Khalid said he passed letters about Sina’a to Iraqi politicians and American officials at all levels, but to no avail.
Before the war, he said his factory pumped out 350 doors in an eight-hour shift and employed 100 men.
“They need to reconstruct,” he said of Fallujah. “They need doors. We are in need of everything in this country.”
Fallujah residents were upset at the U.S. forces after the “big fight” in 2004, he said, but improved security has changed those sentiments.
Getting the factories rebuilt and people employed should be a strategic goal for keeping the peace in Fallujah, Khalid said.
“People will be happy to bring back again civil work,” he said. “They would all go back to work tomorrow. But they will not just sit here without income.”
Ellie