Two Reconstruction Projects Turned Over in Duhok
Province
By LuAnne Fantasia, Gulf Region North, U.S.A.C.E.
Apr 15, 2007
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Although classroom furniture and traditional school supplies are missing,
Batel Kindergarten students and their teachers energize the empty rooms with
recitation, singing and the spirit of learning. |
Blackanthem Military News, Duhok ,
(Southern Kurdistan) - Because the concept of Kindergarten is a new one to
Kurdish parents, enrollment in the Batel Kindergarten is just now filling up - a
year after it opened its pink doors.
“It took parents a little time to decide if they wanted their children to try
this new thing,” said Muhammed Hassan, project engineer for the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, Duhok Area Office. With about 30 little ones attending classes
today, Hassan said there are more than 100 students registered for the next
session.
The school has six classrooms, windows, toilets, running water and electricity,
a theater room with a small stage, an administrative room and a playground space
outside for the kids to run and jump.
“They still need furniture,” Hassan said, “but maybe there will be funding for
that next year.” The teachers and students are happy, however, to take their
shoes off and sit on the carpet in the large, sunny classroom with modest school
supplies and toys; reciting, counting and singing, as normal, happy children do.
“With or without furniture and supplies, this is a healthy environment for a
good education for children,” Hassan said.
As project engineer, Hassan provided quality assurance oversight on this
completed reconstruction project, as well as three ongoing public health clinic
projects in Duhok.
Duhok to Akre transmission line—Ezzat Khorsheed is a quality assurance project
engineer for the 132kV double circuit overhead transmission line from Dahuk to
Akre—an $18 million project that brings electricity directly from Turkey to more
than 100 Kurdish villages in the Akre area.
“The electricity is currently routed from Turkey through Mosul, then out to
these remote villages,” Khorsheed explained. “This project provides a more
direct feed, increasing service availability to people in more than 100
villages.” Currently, these residents have electricity four to five hours daily,
he added.
There are 299 towers that dot the mountains, valleys and flatlands, from Duhok
to Akre, that will change the direction of the power source from Mosul to the
Duhok substation. The project is a joint contractor venture, according to
Khorsheed.
Note: LuAnne Fantasia is the Public Affairs Officer for the Gulf Region North
District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Iraq.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:
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When the
school opened a year ago, the concept of Kindergarten was new to Kurdish
parents. Today, the Batel Kindergarten School in Duhok Province has more
than 100 little ones registered for its next session. |
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Ezzat Korsheed
is the quality assurance project engineer for an overhead transmission
line from Duhok to Akre, that will ultimately bring electricity directly
from Turkey to more than 100 Kurdish villages in that northern area. |
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