New projects for Iraqi marshes

 

By Bassem Sheik Ali

 

Azzaman, 2005-03-23

 

The government plans to provide electricity to the new villages that have sprang up in the devastated marshlands in the south, according to a senior electricity official.

 

Abdulkarim al-Kubaisi, an adviser at the Ministry of Electricity, said he hope the marsh dwellers who returned to their ancestral land following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein will have access to electricity in a few months.

 

The Health Ministry is also planning for new projects which will include a 50-bed hospital and several modern clinics.

 

“We have prepared a plan to implement new health projects in the marshes,” said Iman al-Dabagh, director of projects at the Health Ministry.

 

Saddam Hussein ordered the extensive draining of the wetlands, in part to punish the native Marsh Arabs who opposed his rule.

 

Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave the area which is sometimes identified as the site of the Garden of Eden.

 

The marshes once covered an area of approximately 20,000 sq km.

 

Life is reported to be returning to a number of drained areas but the marsh Arabs who have opted to return complain of lack of amenities such clean water, electricity, health and education.

 

It is estimated that up to 20 percent of the drained land has been inundated and officials from the Ministry of Environment say the water in several areas can be used for drinking if treated.

 

With the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime, jubilant marsh Arabs who were forcibly evacuated from their homes broke open the dikes and dams to re-flood their areas.

 

The officials estimate that up to 60% of the wildlife has since returned to the inundated areas.

 

“Our studies have shown that life can return to the marshes since the quality of the water accumulating in them is suitable for the revival of the former flora and fauna,” said Karim Tamimi, head of the Environment Ministry’s information bureau.

 

Al-Dabagh of the Health Ministry said the marsh people “are in urgent need of preventive services and treatment. The marshes are sparsely populated and some remote villages are difficult to reach.”

 

The Environment Ministry has research teams in the marshes, conducting cases and field studies, according to Tamimi.

 

“Our studies have shown that it is possible for life to prosper in these areas once again. We predict that the marshes may even be restored to a situation better than the time before Saddam Hussein had them drained and turned into wasteland,” said Tamimi.