Work begins on electricity station in Wassit

WASSIT / IraqiNews.com: A Chinese company has launched work on a project to build an electricity station in Wassit province at a total cost of $940 million U.S. dollars, according to a local official. “Shanghai, a Chinese company, has begun work on the first stage of the project, which lies 70 km north of Kut,” the media director in the province, Majed al-Itabi, told Iraqi News. “The company, which received a first payment of $184 million U.S. dollars, is bound to the contract, which specifies a deadline of four years,” Itabi noted. The foundation stone for the project was laid on August 12, 2008 in the presence of Electricity Minister Kareem Waheed and several Iraqi and Chinese officials. Work on the project had stopped due to technical and administrative reasons. Kut, the capital city of Wassit province, lies 180 km southeast of Baghdad. SS (P) 1