- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq
needs $20 billion to revive its crippled power supply, hit by postwar sabotage
and dilapidation caused by years of U.N. trade sanctions, an Iraqi minister
said on Saturday.
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- "We need twenty billion dollars in the next three
years to at least bring the power production up to 18,000 megawatts (MW),"
Iraq's newly-appointed Electricity Minister Ayham Sameraei told a news
conference.
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- He said that was the estimate of his ministry and the
U.S.- led civil administration which has been ruling Iraq since the fall
of Saddam Hussein's government five months ago.
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- Iraq's elderly power stations provide power only for
a few hours a day. Sanctions deprived them of spare parts, forcing workers
to use cannibalised equipment to keep them going, the minister said.
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- He said he would soon travel to the United States to
lobby for cash to rebuild the power system.
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- President Bush has asked Congress to approve a $20 billion
budget for Iraq's reconstruction.
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- "I hope that six billion dollars out of that money
will be allocated for electricity," Samaraei said.
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- He said he would also travel to New York to discuss with
U.N. officials how to restart multi-million dollar contracts which Saddam's
government signed with foreign companies, under an oil-for-food deal with
the United Nations, to provide spare parts and other services for the electricity
industry.
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- The oil pact allowed Iraq to sell oil to buy food, medicine
and other humanitarian items to offset the effects of sanctions, which
were lifted in May.
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- Before the U.S.-led war that ousted Saddam, Iraq used
to produce 4,500 MW of electricity. Postwar looting and sabotage has reduced
that to 3,500, while current demand is estimated at 9,000 and expected
to rise quickly.
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- "We are planning to increase production to 4,000
MW by the end of this year, to 10,000 MW in two years and to 18,000 in
three years," he said.
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- Samaraei is one of 25 ministers appointed last month
by the U.S.-picked interim Iraqi Governing Council.
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- The new ministers oversee the day-to-day running of their
departments while major policy decisions are taken in consultation with
the U.S.-led authority and Governing Council.
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- Iraq is struggling to rebuild its infrastructure and
industry five months after the fall of Baghdad but its efforts are being
undermined by frequent power cuts, in part due to sabotage.
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- The erratic power supply is especially hitting Iraq's
oil production and exports, which had been expected to fund national reconstruction.
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- Power shortages have deepened anti-American sentiment.
Some Iraqis say they suspect U.S. troops of intentionally dragging their
feet.
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