Photo By Lt. Col. Michael Humphreys | Lt. Col. Brian Eifler, who hails from Farmington Hills, Mich., and Capt. Nicholas...... read more read more
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By Maj. Mike Humphreys
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
BAGHDAD – Nearly two months of fighting spurred by criminal and special groups elements in Sadr City left one of Baghdad's largest market areas in disarray, but recent calm has shops open again and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers are in a hurry to provide valuable and necessary aid to business owners in the area.
The Regulars of Task Force 1-6 Infantry, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armor Division, visited the economically critical Jamilla Market May 29 to inform shop owners of the possibility for rebuilding and improving their businesses through micro-grants.
Micro-grants can be issued to business owners in a sum up to $2,500 and are generally used to supplement a claim for damage caused by the fighting in Sadr City, said Capt. Nicholas Cantrell of Topeka, Kan., fire support officer for TF 1-6, assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad.
"We have specifically been looking for lost revenues and minor damages or losses, like a small generator or a refrigerator," Cantrell said, of his door-to-door approach at educating business owners to the possibilities.
"The word is starting to get out ... we are experiencing people starting to ask us about the micro-grants now instead of us telling them," Cantrell said.
In four days, TF 1-6 handed out $85,000 in micro-grants, and though the money is a lifeboat to the individual business owner, Cantrell said TF 1-6 is leading the charge in concert with the Iraqi security forces, the government of Iraq, and civil affairs operations, to fix Jamilla Market on a grand scale.
"It was operating at zero percent," said Lt. Col. Brian Eifler, a native of Farmington Hills, Mich., and commander of TF 1-6. "Now it's about 30 or 40 percent of what it used to be, and every day we see a marked improvement in there."
While micro-grants are being handed out to business owners pedaling everything from fruits and vegetables to hammers and nails, the work going on around them reads like an expensive shopping list as well. Cantrell said numerous small projects are underway to remove rubble, fix open sewers, improve power and install street lights and many other critical infrastructure improvements.
"We've cleaned up many of the areas affected by the fighting and fires, and all of this has resulted in stores and businesses reopening and with the residents feeling a new sense of security," Cantrell said.
Mohammed Yasser, a local businessman, said he lost his business shortly after fighting began in another part of the market and 200,000,000 Iraqi Dinar. He was quick to assign the blame to those he felt were at fault.
"The terrorists – they destroy everything. They take everything," he said, of the criminal elements that burned his business.
For now, Yasser runs a more modest shop than before, but said he vows to rebuild his old store with the help of the government of Iraq and a micro-grant from coalition forces.
He emphatically defies the criminals to win over him.
"We are with the right," he exclaimed. "We are with the people. We are with the new world."
| Date Taken: | 05.31.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 05.31.2008 10:07 |
| Story ID: | 19974 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 616 |
| Downloads: | 528 |
This work, Regulars tour Jamilla Market, talk to owners about available financial aid, by LTC Michael Humphreys, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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