2 services projects launched in northern Basra

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: Two services projects worth nearly 2.7 million U.S. dollars have been launched in northern Basra province under the provincial development program for the year 2008, the head of Basra’s construction unit said on Tuesday. “The projects include rehabilitation work on the streets of al-Imam al-Qaem district and a rain water drainage system…,” Eng. Ziyad Ali Fadhil told IraqiNews.com. Fadhil pointed out that the estimated completion period of the projects is six months. Basra, 590 km (340 miles) south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has an estimated metropolitan population of 2,300,000 in 2008. Basra, a Shiite province with 20% of the population are Sunnis, is the cradle of the first civilization of Sumer. It has the seven main Iraqi ports. The first built in Islam 14 A.H. (After Hegira), the city played an important role in early Islamic history. The area surrounding Basra has substantial petroleum resources and many oil wells. The city’s oil refinery has a production capacity of about 140,000 barrels per day (bpd). The only Iraqi outlet to the sea, Basra is in a fertile agricultural region, with major products including rice, maize corn, barley, pearl millet, wheat and dates as well as livestock. A network of canals flowed through the city, giving it the nickname “The Venice of the Middle East” at least at high tide. The only Iraqi outlet to the sea, Basra has the commercial ports of Iraq. SS (S) 1