Labor minister to lay cornerstone for training center in Karbala

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The labor and social affairs ministry on Wednesday said that Minister Mahmoud al-Sheikh Radi will lay the cornerstone to establish a vocational training center in Karbala on Thursday. “Minister of labor and social affairs on Thursday (April 2) will lay the cornerstone to set up a vocational training center in Karbala with the attendance of senior Iraqi officials in the province,” the ministry said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com news agency. “The project comes within the framework of implementing the investment plan of the ministry in 2009 at a cost of 3.102 billion Iraqi dinars,” it added. Karbala, with an estimated population of 572,300 people in 2003, is the capital of the province and is considered to be one of Shiite Muslims’ holiest cities. The city, 110 km south of Baghdad, is one of Iraq’s wealthiest, profiting both from religious visitors and agricultural produce, especially dates. SH (S) 1