Plan in motion to restore Haifa Street

Photo By Master Sgt. Kap Kim | Maj. Chip Daniels (left), the team chief for the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion's Infrastructure Coordination Element from Palmyra, Pa., and Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey Seidel, talk about which buildings need to be worked on during an assessment of Baghdad's Haifa Street April 4.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

05.06.2007

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Kap Kim 

2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

By Sgt. 1st Class Kap Kim
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division

BAGHDAD – During a press conference with Iraqi media members, Col. Bryan Roberts addressed issues concerning the revitalization of the Haifa Street area in Baghdad's Karkh District with a project called, simply, the "Haifa Street Project."

Once described by some as "hell on earth," Roberts, the commander of the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, wanted to help change that image and restore the once-affluent and culturally-rich Baghdad district through a series of public works.

"It's an initiative, in cooperation with local leaders, to improve security, essential services and economic opportunities in Karkh," he said. "This exciting project will provide a way ahead to the secure, stable and prosperous neighborhoods that Iraqis want and deserve."

The initiative sent the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion's Infrastructure Coordination Element into action. Although they have already been working with the Karkh District Advisory Council and neighborhood leaders since the brigade's arrival to Baghdad on essential service-type issues such as sewer, trash, and electricity, the ICE is now focusing on patching up the scars inflicted by fierce fighting throughout the years there.

"The goal of this project is to make Haifa Street a safer, cleaner and better place to live, work and enjoy in the center of Baghdad," Roberts said. "The Haifa Street Project will be a visible sign of progress that all Iraqis can be proud of and other districts will emulate.'

According to Roberts, the project has three distinctive parts.

Part one will be projects that demonstrate visible signs of change and a return to normalcy.

"(It will clean up) buildings damaged by fighting, streets littered with destroyed cars, anti-Iraqi graffiti, closed parks and playgrounds aren't part of a living city," he said.

Part two will concentrate on improving the essential services.

"We have started assessments and working with local leaders to repair these systems," Roberts said. "All residents of Karkh deserve a healthy, sanitary and safe environment, and we are dedicated to helping (to make) this happen when and where we can."

The third and final part of the operation deals with security operations.

"Karkh is patrolled day and night," Robert said. "Coalition and Iraqi forces have forged a strong partnership dedicated to fighting those who would kill innocent Iraqi men, women and children."

Iraqi Police commander, Col. Baha, whose department watches over Karkh, noted that since their constant presence in the area began, violent crime has nearly ceased in the area -- dropping from more than 50 murder cases in January to only a single case in March.

As a direct result of the increased security, Baha said markets are rapidly reopening, children are going back to school and many of the families who fled out of fear have started coming back to their homes.

Staff Sgt. Sean Clark, an ICE member and a Schenectady, N.Y., native, said he and his team have spent a lot of time walking the streets of Karkh in the past few months. He said seeing some of the architecture was like that of Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

"It's not bad,'" he commented on some of the historical buildings.

According to 1st Lt. William Pendleton, of Anaheim, Calif., this project will be the first major expenditure on war damage.

"Most of it focuses on neglect – 40 years of neglect – direct results of combat," Pendleton said. "The scope [of this project] is huge. Working on the apartments will be the scope of the project."

Pendleton, who can view Haifa Street from their balcony on Forward Operating Base Prosperity in Baghdad's center, said he remembers when he and his team watched as coalition gun ships lit up the Baghdad skies a few months ago to push out extremists.

"It's just amazing there now," he said of the atmosphere of safety on Haifa Street today. "We were out there for three hours and not a single gunshot or explosion (was heard)."

Most of the safety, in large part, is due to the partnership between the coalition forces and Iraqi Police – providing a constant presence within the Karkh District.

There are currently 29 different renovation projects in various stages of planning and execution, valued at more than $6.3 million.

"If you see this place now, think about what it will look like in six months," said Maj. Chip Daniels, the chief of the ICE team Palmyra, Pa.

"You all are a part of history," he told his team after an assessment mission. "You should be proud to tell your families you are a part of this."

• Date Taken: 05.06.2007
• Date Posted: 05.07.2007 12:07
• Story ID: 10260
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ