79% of Iraqis have access to potable water – report

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: 79 percent of Iraqis have access to potable water from the central distribution network according to environmental survey made by the Iraqi government in cooperation with the UNICEF and EU in 2010.   In a press statement , as received by IraqiNews.com, it added that one fifth of the Iraqis do not have access to suitable drinking water, a figure that almost doubles in the rural areas.   Only 66 percent of the people have a garbage collection service in the country, while 8 percent of the rural areas get this service, the report added.   UNICEF has been working in Iraq since 1983. RM (TP)/SR   314