Ministry puts 115,000 jobless to work

 

By Ikhlas Majeed

 

Azzaman, May 22, 2005

 

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs says it has found work for 115,000 Jobless Iraqis in the past six months.

 

A ministry statement faxed to the newspaper said the jobs were created in various provinces and mainly by newly formed companies.

 

Unemployment is rampant in Iraq as most of the money the U.S. has earmarked for its reconstruction and revenues of oil exports now go to security.

 

There are fewer jobs in Iraq than the number of unemployed Iraqis registered with the ministry.

 

Ministry statistics show that more than 650,000 Iraqis have applied for jobs at the ministry’s employment centers only in Baghdad.

 

The ministry said the 115,000 jobs created in the past six months belonged to the whole country and only Baghdad.

 

It did not say how many Iraqis are officially registered with its employment bureaus across the country, but the ministry estimates employment to be higher than 50% of the country’s labor force.

 

Most of the money at the government’s disposal is diverted to meet security demands.

 

Meantime, rebuilding of Iraq has become a costly and dangerous business.

 

Hundreds of foreign and local contractors have either been kidnapped or killed in the past two years.

 

It is estimated that a large portion of the money earmarked for projects is currently spent on how to protect engineers and workers from insurgent attacks.