Kirkuk budget hits ID121b – official

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: The current budget of the province of Kirkuk has hit 121 billion Iraqi dinars (ID) after excluding compensations for the Taza district residents, amounting to ID6 billion, according to the assistant governor on Saturday. “Part of the 2010 budget was appropriated to 370 project, including 105 that are resumed from 2009 and now they are pending finalization. The rest went to new projects to be announced soon after endorsement,” Ali Hammadi told IraqiNews.com news agency. “There are four investment projects to solve traffic congestion problems in Kirkuk by opening new roads and building bridges and tunnels,” he added. Hammadi noted that the number of population was counted in accordance with ration cards, reaching about 1.320 million. The oil-rich Kirkuk, a city of mixed Arab, Turkmen and Kurdish population, lies 250 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (P)/SR 1