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BAGHDAD, Iraq (January 3, 2008) - Thousands of families in
eastern Baghdad soon will have their neighborhoods free of raw
sewage in the streets.
Iraqi construction workers are completing a $30 million sewer
project in Kamaliya, southeast of Sadr City. About 36 miles of
sewer pipe has been installed, and 10 pump stations were built,
with the largest having the capacity to move more than 2,000 cubic
meters of water per hour.
"Residents there appreciate the improvements taking place," said
Iraqi engineer Mustafa Haddad, who works for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers. "For over two years, we've been working on this project,
and the community has been very supportive. They were using slit
trenches and wading through raw sewage to get to their homes, a
definite health risk."
Haddad is the deputy resident engineer of the corps' Loyalty
Office, located south of Sadr City. More than 20 Iraqi engineers
work out of the office, overseeing more than $125 million in
infrastructure improvements in eastern Baghdad, including school
and hospital renovations, electric network upgrades, road paving
and new water-treatment facilities.
Haddad has put up with mortars, one of his fellow Iraqi
engineers was gunned down after visiting a school project, other
office workers have been injured, and he personally has been
targeted by insurgents and had to move his family to a different
area.
"We're here because we know how important this work is for our
country and our people. Yes, it's a difficult time. But those in
need are looking for help, and we're going to continue to do
everything we can to offer it to them," he said. "Their streets
will soon be dry and clean. People in Kamaliya are seeing
significant signs of progress."
Haddad, 29, earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from
Baghdad's University of Technology.
"My family worries about me and the dangers I face, but they
understand how important this work is," he said. "We need to keep
making things better, and some day soon Iraq will turn the
corner."
Apart from Kamaliya, Haddad is overseeing 20 other sewer
projects in eastern Baghdad.
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