27/5/2005
TOKYO,(KUNA) — As part of its assistance to the reconstruction of
Iraq, Japan has decided to build a 60-megawatt power station in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura announced Friday.
"The construction work will hopefully start at the end of this year," Machimura said at a press conference.
The power plant, with a JPY 12.7 billion (USD 118 million) grant, is the last project to be covered by the USD 1.5 billion Japan pledged in 2003 as grant aid for immediate needs for reconstruction of Iraq.
Muthanna is the only one of Iraq”s 18 provinces without a power plant and has to depend on other provinces for electricity. Electricity supply is so bad that the provincial capital of Samawah and other areas of Muthanna have frequent blackouts stretching for many hours at a time.
This is Japan”s first major infrastructure project in the reconstruction of Iraq since the US-led war in 2003, according to the ministry.
Some 600 Japanese troops are stationed in Samawah to provide humanitarian assistance for locals.