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Viewing cable 07HILLAH129, KARBALA UPDATE ON FOUR KEY SECTORS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07HILLAH129 2007-09-24 11:58 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED REO Hillah
VZCZCXRO5817
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHIHL #0129/01 2671158
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241158Z SEP 07
FM REO HILLAH
TO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
INFO RUEHIHL/REO HILLAH 1011
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000129 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON EAGR IR PREF
SUBJECT: KARBALA UPDATE ON FOUR KEY SECTORS 
 
HILLAH 00000129  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
1. This is a PRT Karbala Najaf Diwaniyah unclassified cable. 
 
2. SUMMARY AND COMMENT: On September 22, PRT Karbala traveled 
with the support of 3ID Division Airlift to the Karbala 
Provincial Joint Communication Center to meet with the 
Provincial Council Chairman, Provincial Council members and 
Director Generals.  Subjects included health service delivery, 
education sector, agriculture and tourism.  Most importantly, 
the increased number of potential partners among the present 
government officials revealed that the influence of neighboring 
countries by way of dumping key goods into the market is not 
welcome. 
 
AGRICULTURE 
----------- 
 
3. The PC Agriculture Chairman, Dr. Abbas Naser Hasany, 
explained that the irrigation canals and practices in Karbala 
are badly outdated and low yielding.  Worse yet, he highlighted 
a common complaint that produce imported from neighboring 
countries (read: Iran) were so competitively priced that farmers 
found it more cost effective to buy, rather than grow, their own 
fruits and vegetables.  This phenomenon applies to citrus (for 
which Karbala is a well known grower), dates, tomatoes and 
cucumbers in particular.  Further complicating issues are pests, 
funguses and parasites that plague the fields.  Addressing 
production levels and the costs of inputs was the key focus of 
Dr. Abbas' presentation. 
 
EDUCATION 
--------- 
 
4. Education is suffering from limited physical resources and a 
growing number of students.  Internal displacement is to blame 
for this increase, according to Mr. Shams al-Deen Hameed Majeed 
the PC committee chairman for Primary Education, increasing the 
total student body of Karbala schools so that 335 school houses 
are used in multiple shifts to serve 490 schools of children. 
In some of the more densely populated areas, school buildings 
are housing three shifts, requiring that class times not exceed 
15 minutes.  Funding teacher salaries is the priority of the 
Karbala Education Ministry, leaving little surplus to procure 
teaching materials and school supplies, much less the 105 
additional school houses that the province would like to build. 
In 2006 the provincial government funded the construction of 
seven school houses and the expansion of 42 school houses. 
Continuing with this trend, in 2007 the Karbala government 
funded the nine new school houses and the expansion of 38 other 
facilities. 
 
TOURISM 
------- 
 
5. Religious tourism is a key social and religious activity 
among Shi'a Muslims that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors 
to Karbala.  In addition to the Shrines, there are more than 318 
touristic sites that the Director General of Tourism would like 
to develop.  The hotel industry has yet to catch up with the 
surge of visitors, providing only a maximum of 23,000 beds. 
Eighteen restaurants with an average size less than 800 sq 
meters are less than adequate to provide services for the 
current and potential number of tourists interested in visiting 
Karbala.  Worse yet, local interlocutors describe militia 
activity on the streets harassing restaurant and coffee shop 
goers and pressuring women to be home before sunset. 
 
HEALTH SECTOR 
------------- 
 
6. The health sector in Karbala is benefiting from four major 
government-funded projects to increase available medical care 
and services. Among those projects are a new blood bank, an 
expanded morgue, a medical waste treatment facility, and various 
improvements to the Hussein Hospital.  Since 2003, 20 health 
centers have been constructed, nine of which were funded by the 
USG. Dr. Haider, the PC health committee member, explained that 
Karbala needs additional hospitals in Ain Tamur and Hindiyah 
districts, because their populations have grown considerably as 
a result of internal displacement from Baghdad, Diyala and 
Anbar.  He requested support to engage international agencies 
and organizations to assist in the improvement of health care 
services in the province. 
 
 
BIOGRAPHIC NOTES 
---------------- 
- Abd Al'al Yaseen Mohammed al-Yasiry is the Provincial Council 
Chairman and is a member of the Iraqi Democratic Current.  He is 
currently finishing a law degree and over the course of the last 
year has been willing to visit the Regional Embassy Office 
monthly. 
 
- Sheikh Falah Hassan Atiya is one of the last remaining 
Fadheela Virtue Party members on the provincial council and 
 
HILLAH 00000129  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
serves as the chairman of the reconstruction committee.  Only 
recently has he reengaged with the PRT following a year long 
boycott by Fadheela in Karbala in protest of the June 2006 
detention of Sheikh al-Zubeidy the form Provincial Council 
Chairman. 
 
- Dr. Razzoul Abood Hasan is the provincial government engineer 
and assistant to Governor Aqeel. 
 
- Dr. Haider Abd al-Ameer Hasan is a provincial council member 
and on the Health Committee Member.  He was elected on the 320 
list and is known as a member of ISCI. 
 
- Dr. Abbas Naser Hasany is a provincial council member and 
serves on the Agriculture and Irrigation committee. He is an 
independent elected on the 113 ticket but is thought by previous 
staff of the PRT to be a Sadrist sympathizer. 
 
- Shams al-Deen Hameed Majeed is among the few Da'wa Provincial 
Council members and is the chairman of the primary education 
committee. Mr. Shams is also the brother of the Karbala 
Businessman Union chairman, Hatham M.S. Abood. 
 
- Husein Hameed is the Director General of Tourism, he also 
participated in the last tourism meeting held in June, 2007. 
 
 
 
 
REED 
SIMMONS