Protecting the harvest

DOHUK PROVINCE, IRAQ

07.06.2006

Courtesy Story

401st Civil Affairs Battalion

DOHUK PROVINCE, (Iraq June 28, 2006) -- Inspecting well projects and seeing how they are progressing is part of the job for Navy Lt. Dana Melvin, team chief, 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion, and native of New Orleans, La.

The 403rd CA Bn. is responsible for tracking each project from start to finish to insure that it is being completed to standard and no short cuts are being taken.

"Currently, we are monitoring projects in the villages of Hidena, Ormana, Ravina and Batifa-Saida," said Melvin.

One point of interest about these uncompleted well projects is that they are not being solely funded or contracted by U.S. government agencies.

"The water storage tanks in these villages were built with funds from the Kurdish Regional Government," said Melvin. "This generates good public relations between the Kurdish government and Coalition Forces by demonstrating the ability of the Kurdish people to carry-on the work."

The Kurdish government has built two water-storage towers in the villages of Ravina and Batifa-Saida. As a result, the Kurds initiative has trimmed U.S. funds previously allocated to see the project to completion.

"A fully funded well project can cost between $120,000 and $300,000," said Melvin. "When the Kurds pay for the material and labor, it reduces our costs to between $10,000 and $30,000."

According to Melvin, the savings in U.S. dollars means he can focus on spending money for other important community projects.

"When I arrived, civil affairs met with all of the Iraqi directorate generals. There are several other separate directorates such as agriculture, electricity, health, roads and bridges and water," said Melvin. "I meet with them about once a month and ask them for a list of priorities. If I have funds I let them know what's available and try to address the most critical needs first."

• Date Taken: 07.06.2006
• Date Posted: 07.06.2006 12:58
• Story ID: 7061
• Location: DOHUK PROVINCE, IQ