Camp Liberty – No 47
According to Mrs. Rajavi’s plan the residents by hiring Iraqi contractors and purchasing all the necessary equipments at their own cost (more than 2.55 million dollars ( would pump and purify water from the river adjacent to Camp Liberty.
Starting of work by Iraqi contractor and entrance of equipments, which are purchased by the residents, are prevented under different excuses.Since February 2012, after the arrival of the first convoy of Ashraf residents in Camp Liberty,
water has been one of the most pressing problems. As a result of a grueling effort, the residents supply part of their water requirements from a pumping station 12 kilometers away from the camp. As such, water is rationed most of the times.
All of the residents efforts and the their numerous requests to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, UNAMI, American and Iraqi officials for connecting Liberty to the city water network or to the river 150 meters away from the camp, have been futile.
Last April the SRSG and US officials informed the residents in writing that in Camp Liberty would be connected to the city water network in the near future. This was an essential requirement for the transfer of the 5th convoy to Liberty. The SRSG on several occasions (including in letters on May 28 and 31) reiterated that before the month of Ramadan (which began on July 20) Liberty would be connected to the city network. But a short while later, this commitment like other previous ones made by the GoI were proven to be hollow. The Iraqi party declared that it is not feasible to connect Liberty to city water.
Subsequently the residents requested to pump the water from a nearby river and to purify it in the Camp. This was another option that they had proposed from the onset.
In order to remove whatever obstacle created by the GoI, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, on July 26 proposed an operational plan to the SRSG. In that plan Mrs. Rajavi underscored: “The residents would purchase all the requirements and equipment including the pump, the pipes, the machines and water purification facilities and hire Iraqi contractors to install the pumps and water transfer and purification systems at Liberty”.
According to this plan all the cost, that is in excess of 2.55 million US Dollars, will be paid by the residents and the whole project will be implemented in less than a month. There would be no cost or responsibility for the Government of Iraq.
The residents immediately purchased the major part of the equipments and signed an agreement with the contractor for installing the equipments and piping. Yet, despite passage of 20 days, the GOI prevents the initiation of the work. It even evades from fulfilling the agreements of the trilateral meetings (participated by representatives of the residents, the GOI and UNAMI). As such:
In the August 7 meeting, the Iraqi party committed that the municipality engineers would go to the site on August 9 and would designate the permissible piping route. This was postponed to August 12. Subsequently the Iraqi party informed the residents that no one from municipality would go and the residents should resolve this issue directly with the office of water and power. Given the current situation in Iraq and residents being deprived of freedom of movement, this is tantamount to postponing this work forever.
In the same meeting it was agreed that some of the equipments like purification devices and the pertinent tanks be brought into the camp. Subsequently, the residents informed the Iraqi party that these equipments would arrive at Liberty on August 13. But for baseless excuses the Iraqi forces have refrained from inspecting the equipments and have not provided the permission for their entrance into the camp. Based on the agreement of the representative of the GOI, the residents have rented a crane for downloading these equipments. The rent for the crane is 1000 U.S. dollars a day. Yet the crane is sitting idle and without any work at the entrance of Liberty. It seems that given the immediacy of eid-al-fitr holiday, which is a week long, the intent is further delay and procrastination.
Despite previous agreement, not only the contractor has not been allowed to start his work outside of the camp and for piping, but also he has not been given the permission to bring the necessary machinery and equipment inside of the camp to start his work there.
The representative of the GOI was scheduled to go to Liberty for the joint weekly meeting on August 14 in order to resolve the issues regarding water and construction at Liberty. But this did not happen and no meeting took place.
The GOI is conspicuously intends by resorting to procrastination to prevent Liberty being connected to river for water and it intends to use the leverage of water as a means to exert pressure on the residents and tormenting them.
The Iranian Resistance calls on the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, UNAMI, and the US Government to strongly condemn the obvious obstruction in connecting water system of Liberty and to demand from the GOI to remove the obstacles it has created so the residents could solve the issue of water with their own resources and efforts and through the contractor that they have hired in agreement of the GOI.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
August 15, 2012
