- The rest of our trip was comprised of a frenetic tour
of stopping by villages both near and inside the city limits of Hilla,
Najaf, and Diwaniya. Hilla, right near Babylon, has a water treatment plant
and distribution center that is managed by Salmam Hassan Kadel, who is
also the Chief Engineer. The wastewater project here, like in Najaf and
Diwaniya, is specifically named on Bechtelís contract as one that
they are responsible for rehabilitating.
-
- Mr. Kadel informed me that he has received help from
UNICEF, Red Cross and several others. He told me that even during the war
they had running water in every house, and just had the normal problems
of needing to replace old pipes and pumps. Now, they are supplying 50%
of the water they need for the people of Hilla. The villages have no water,
and they donít have the pipes they need to get the work done.
-
- And they have had no contact from Bechtel, or a subcontractor
of said. He tells of massive numbers of people with cholera, diarrhea,
nausea, and kidney stones.
-
- Mr. Kadel says, ìBechtel is spending all of their
money without any studies. We give our NGOís all of our information
before they do the work, and they know what to do. Bechtel is painting
buildings, but this doesnít give clean water to the people who have
died from drinking contaminated water. We ask of them that instead of painting
buildings, they give us one water pump and weíll use it to give
water service to more people. We have had no change since the Americanís
came here. We know Bechtel is wasting money, but we canít prove
it.î
-
- Just outside of Hilla I speak with several men of a small
village. Itís the usual story-no running water, maybe 2-4 hours
of electricity per day to run their feeble pumps to pull in contaminated
water for them to use.
-
- An old man, Hussin Hamsa Nagem, tells me, ìThis
is just like Saddamís time. In fact, it is worse. We have less water
now than before. We are all sick with stomach problems and kidney stones.
Our crops are dying.î
-
- At another small village between Hilla and Najaf, 1500
people are drinking water from a dirty stream which slowly trickles near
the homes. Everyone has dysentery, many with kidney stones, a huge number
with cholera. One of the men, holding a sick child, tells me, ìIt
was much better before the invasion. We had 24 hours running water then.
Now we are drinking this garbage because it is all we have.î
-
- A little further down the road at a village of 6000 homes
called Abu Hidari, it is more of the same. Here, Saddam was rebuilding
the pipes, but this ceased during the invasion and has yet to be resumed.
The women are carrying water from a nearby dirty creek into their homes,
because again, they have no other option.
-
- After a night in Najaf, the next morning finds me at
yet another village on the outskirts of Najaf, which falls under the responsibility
of Najafís water center. Here the people had been pro-active in
collecting funds from each house to install new pipes. But due to lack
of electricity and lack of water from the Najaf water treatment center,
they are suffering.
-
- A large hole is dug into the ground where they tapped
into already existing pipes to siphon water. It fills the dirty hole in
the night, when water is collected. This morning, children stand around
it as women collect what little bit of dirty water which stands in the
bottom of the hole.
-
- Dysentary, cholera, nausea, diarrhea, kidney stonesÖeveryone
is suffering from some water-born illness here, like the rest. 8 children
from the village have been killed when attempting to cross the busy highway
to a nearby factory in order to retrieve clean water.
-
- Women are walking 1 km down to a stream, which dries
up in the summer, to collect water for their homes. In the same stream
other people are washing their dishes and doing laundry. I am told that
many children from the village have drowned in this stream while collecting
water.
-
- After translating for upwards of several hundred men
from at least 10 different villages in this region south of Baghdad, at
one point Hamoudi, with a tired and sad look on his face, said,
-
- ìI cannot do this work. They are desperate. They
are asking me to help, and I can do nothing for these people. Iím
very tired.î
-
- Mr. Mehdi is an engineer and Assistant Manager at the
Najaf water distribution center. With help from Red Cross and the Spanish
Army, they are doing some of the rebuilding on their own. He tells me Bechtel
has begun working on the Arzaga Water Project to help bring water into
the city center of Najaf. He says that Bechtel started one month ago; painting
buildings, cleaning and repairing storage tanks and repairing and replacing
sand filters.
-
- This is the only project he knows of that Bechtel has
been working on in Najaf.
-
- There has been no work on desalinization, which is critical
in this area, or other purification processes.
-
- He states, ìBechtel is repairing some water facilities,
but not improving the electricity any, which is their responsibility. Their
work has not produced any more clean water than what we already had. Bechtel
has not spoken with us, or promised us to do anything else.î
-
- I ask him if he thinks Bechtel can meet their contractual
obligation of restoring potable water supply in all of the urban centers
of Iraq by April 17th, and he laughs.
-
- I ask him, ìHow successful has Bechtel been in
restoring electrical service to your water facility which depends on electricity
to operate?î He tells me at least 30% of Najaf doesnít have
clean water simply because of lack of electricity.
-
- In Diwaniya, and each of the 5 other villages I visited
the story is the same. Change the names of the people and the names of
the city/village, and we find cholera, dysentery, diarrhea, nausea, less
than 8 hours of electricity per day, contaminated water (or no water),
and everyone is suffering.
-
- All of these people are Shiíite Muslims, those
the US hopes to gain the support of. Those who have been promised the most,
and had the most hope for a better life now that they are no longer living
in the shadow of Saddam Hussein. These are the people who suffered the
most from his regime.
-
- I am here to state, unequivocally, that 100% of the people
I spoke with in this area south of Baghdad have stated that their living
conditions are worse now than when Saddam was in power.
-
- Mr. Hassan Mehdi Mohammed lives in a small village with
his wife and 8 children, about an hours drive south of Baghdad. His village
has 80% unemployment. He tells me,
-
- ìThe Americanís have come and taken everything
but have given us nothing. It is worse than before. We were hoping it would
be better than before, but now it is worse. The IGC has forgotten to take
care of the Iraqi people.î
-
- I ask him what he thinks needs to occur to improve their
situation.
-
- ìFirst, we need security. But the Americanís
arenít even safe themselves. They are killed everyday. We like to
hear that companies are coming here and we can work for them, but the IGC
is always disagreeing amongst themselves. They have done nothing to help.
We need free elections, this would be good for the people and give them
hope. But we know Mr. Bremer will cheat us with those.î
-
- I ask him what he thinks will happen here in the near
future.
-
- ìIf we donít get our elections, there will
be a bloody war. I fear a civilian war.î
-
- More of his children come sit with us as we drink chai
and talk. He continues,
-
- ìI think the Americanís came here because
they want something, not just because they love the Iraqi people. If they
really came to help, then they should leave quickly. Now we are waiting
for the next 6 months. The longer we wait, the more we see their promises
are not being kept.î
-
- He takes a sip of chai, thinks for a moment, and says,
-
- ìNo occupation ever makes things good for the
people. All the people in the world must know the Americanís are
here just to help Mr. Bush win this next election. The same people who
benefited under Saddam are benefiting more now. And the same people who
suffered under Saddam, are suffering even more now.î
-
- His brother-in-law, Saduk al Abid, who has joined the
discussion says,
-
- ìIraqi people now have no trust in the Americanís
or the IGC. They have given us one empty promise after another. We can
feel the emptiness of all of their promises now.î
-
- Both of these men fought in the Intifada against Saddam
Hussein in 1991. Now they both lack jobs and are suffering worse than before.
-
- Mr. Abid says, ìDuring Saddamís time we
could at least find a job and bring home some money. Now, we cannot.î
-
- We drive the rest of the way back to Baghdad and listen
to the news of a bus being exploded by an IED on the Dora Highway, and
three US soldiers missing near Mosul. More Iraqi Police are killed in this
incident as well.
-
- Last night we hear a couple of loud explosions, then
listen to the warning sirens wailing from the CPA headquarters in Baghdad
as it was once again attacked with rockets. Several Bradley fighting vehicles
rumble down the street under my window, and helicopters fly across Baghdad
in different directions.
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