Foundation stone laid for housing compound near Hilla

BABEL / IraqiNews.com: A foundation stone has been laid for a housing compound west of Hilla city at a cost of $89 million U.S. dollars, according to the head of the local investment commission. “Today, Babel’s Governor Salem Saleh al-Maslamawi laid the foundation stone for a housing compound in Abi Gharq district (10 km west of Hilla), which encompasses 1,116 units in addition to service facilities,” Alaa Harba told IraqiNews.com news agency. The estimated completion period of the project is two years, Harba added, calling on local and foreign investors to benefit from the province’s geographic position and agricultural land. Babel, a Shiite province that lies 100 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has an area of 6,468 square kilometers (2,497.3 sq mi), with an estimated population of 1,385,783 people in 2003. The provincial capital is the town of al-Hilla. The ancient ruins of Babylon (Babil, after which the region is named) are also in the province. SS (P)/SR 1