Karbala to get 400,000 petrodollars monthly – official

KARBALA / IraqiNews.com: Karbala’s energy quota from the petrodollar allocations launched recently by the cabinet will be up to $400,000 per month, according to the provincial council’s energy & fuel committee chairman on Thursday. “Karbala will receive $400,000 monthly from the petrodollar program adopted by the cabinet for provinces that do not produce oil,” Zuhair Samit al-Daami told IraqiNews.com news agency. “Karbala hoped to get financial revenues from a tourism and pilgrims program which hit $10 per visitor but the ministry of tourism deprived Karbala from $1 billion or more from this program,” Daami said. He noted that the petrodollar program will definitely help develop the infrastructure in the province. “The sum of 91 billion dinars was appropriated for Karbala in 2011, which is not enough to refurbish the city that is considered one of the well-known tourist cities worldwide, receiving more than 35 million pilgrims annually to revive religious ceremonies,” he added. Daami pointed out that this (petrodollar) program could help rebuild what had been destroyed during the years of the former regime. “The province needs many projects in the fields of electricity, roads, schools and health centers.” The holy predominantly Shiite province of Karbala lies 108 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (TS) 1303