Barwari Half Of Iraqis Lack Clean Water

Barwari: Half of Iraqis lack Clean Water

Nasrin Barwari, interim Minister of Municipalities and Public Works, said that half of Iraq’s 25 million people had no access to clean water. She expressed her disappointment Monday that the United Nations and so many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were abandoning Iraq. She said they were desperately needed for reconstruction. She noted that some NGOs were continuing to operate in Iraq via their local, Iraqi employees, even though international ones had left.. She hit an upbeat note when she said that in the coming year, for the first time in history Iraq’s government would spend $5-6 billion on services, the money coming from the US, international donors, and Iraq’s petroleum receipts. (al-Zaman)