Ninewah provincial leaders and top U.S. leaders in Multi-National Division-North discuss the future of Ninewah

Photo By Sgt. Christopher Kozloski | Key U.S. Military and State Department leaders in Ninewah Province and local Director Generals pay close attention as Governor Atheel al Najafi speaks about future projects and the close coordination and communication that needs to be maintained between all key players during a provincial town hall meeting in Mosul, Sept. 9.  

MOSUL, IRAQ

09.09.2009

Story by Sgt. Christopher Kozloski 

3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division

MOSUL, Iraq — Key U.S. and State Department leaders in northern Iraq met with Ninewah province political leadership on Sept. 9 to discuss current and future reconstruction efforts and civil capacity operations in the region.

Brigadier Gen. Robert Brown, deputy commander for Multi-National Division-North, Patrick Murphy, director of Ninewah Provincial Reconstruction Team, and Col. Gregory Maxton, deputy commander for 3rd "Greywolf" Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, sat down with Ninewah Provincial Governor Atheel al-Najafi and his Director Generals to discuss ongoing and future water, trash, sewer and economic projects that would make a significant impact on the population in Ninewah.

Najafi's opening comments touched on topics of economics and operations on the Iraqi-Syrian border.

"We have been focused on direct services to the people of Ninewah," said Najafi. "We need to start looking at economic projects that will bring trade into Ninewah."

Najafi said that he would like to focus on main roadways between villages and the major cities to encourage more trade and economic reinforcement. He also said that he would like to focus more on a partnered effort at the point of entry on the border between Iraq and Syria in order to streamline and simplify the entry process for product transport businesses in the hopes that it will also simplify trade between Iraq and its bordering neighbors.

After the governor's opening statements, Murphy began healthy discussion with the group about current water projects. The largest topic that came from this discussion was providing distributed water to rural areas via water trucks versus funding a project to install a centralized water distribution system.

All parties realized that water studies would have to be conducted in each of the different rural areas to decide which solution would best fit the needs of the communities. Once through these studies, the provincial government will work with U.S. Forces and the PRT to determine the best solution and funding for the projects.

"We will continue to conduct these studies," said Maxton. "Then we will work through the PRT and the DG's to develop long term solutions for each of these projects."

Maxton also announced to the governor that all waste management projects that were currently under way are now completed. He said that trash collection projects are no longer needed.

Murphy went on to address which projects had been submitted by the DG's would be approved for funding. A total of 87 projects were approved and proposed to start within the coming months.

In the end, Najafi emphasized that communication and cooperation between the local government, U.S. Forces and the PRT was essential to the long term success of Iraq. He expressed his appreciation for the ability for this group to come together and work to accomplish so much for his province and his country.

• Date Taken: 09.09.2009
• Date Posted: 09.12.2009 06:29
• Story ID: 38671
• Location: MOSUL, IQ