In this edition
Basrah Forensic Lab Gets CSI Upgrade
Sanitation Trucks Keep Baghdad Clean
MNSTC-I hosts Resource Management and Budgeting Conference (Baghdad)
Iraqi Freedom Minute, Feb. 27
Basrah Forensic Lab Gets CSI Upgrade
Friday, 27 February 2009 By A. Al Bahrani
Gulf Region South District
BASRAH — Crime scene investigators here are now working in a modernized forensic laboratory thanks to a $263,000 renovation, completed Feb. 22.
“I’m very pleased with the new capabilities our renovated Basrah Criminal Evidence Department Laboratory offers,” said Iraqi Police Capt. Bassim. “This is the first time in ten years our facility has been upgraded.”
The five-month project improves the investigator's ability to effectively analyze crime scene evidence and solve crimes, he explained.
“The completed project provides Basrah a great facility to conduct criminal forensics,” said Arthur Davey, project engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Gulf Region Division, the agency charged with managing the facility’s construction. “The evidence they collect at a crime scene, such as DNA, fingerprints, fiber and ballistics, can now be processed in a clean, efficient workplace with improved equipment and fixtures safeguarding the integrity of their findings.”
Robert Vanoer, the USACE Basrah area engineer, said this project represents an important step toward developing a strong rule of law in Basrah and throughout Iraq.
The Gulf Region Division has completed more than 300 other projects related to security and justice, including border posts, point of entry facilities, fire stations, courthouses and correctional facilities. In all, more than 4,400 projects are complete, including water supply and treatment projects, electricity infrastructure, healthcare facilities and schools.
Sanitation Trucks Keep Baghdad Clean
Friday, 27 February 2009 By Staff Sgt. Mark Burrell
Multi-National Division - Baghdad
The new trucks, used for sewage maintenance and repair, give the Iraqis additional capacity to work out sanitation problems in eastern Baghdad, said Conrad Tribble, the chief of the embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.
“It’s a tangible sign of what the U.S. government is doing to help Baghdad really address concrete needs. We’re not doing this to make ourselves look good, but to make their country better,” explained Tribble.
“Ultimately, the goal is to increase the capacity of the municipal government and government legitimacy,” said Maj. Brad Hofmann, civil military operations chief, 401st Civil Affairs Battalion.
Hoffman and his team purchased the sewage trucks with Commander’s Emergency Response Funds to enable the municipal governments of Baghdad’s Karadah, Rusafa and 9 Nissan districts.
“The trucks are going to fix the sewage and people are going to love it,” said Abel Hassan Al Fetlawi, the chief engineer of the New Baghdad province. “This is a pretty good thing."
MNSTC-I hosts Resource Management and Budgeting Conference (Baghdad)
BAGHDAD - Over 40 participants at the Defense Resource Management Institute’s Resource Management & Budgeting Conference were presented graduation certificates by U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Charles Luckey, Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq deputy commanding general, Security Assistance Office, at the NATO Training Mission - Iraq complex Feb. 25
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Conference participants came from the Iraqi Ministries of Interior, Defense, Finance, and Justice, along with the Counter-Terrorism Bureau. The conference was a nine-day event designed as a follow-up to a conference held here in Aug. 2008 that focused on general resource management for the ministries and bureaus.
At MNSTC-I’s request, the February conference concentrated on life-cycle costing, effectiveness analysis and project management. The conference also facilitated inter-ministerial discussions on the budget preparation and execution process as well as the Government of Iraq’s ability to efficiently and effectively manage public resources and on developing international best-practices in resource management for government entities.
The conference was coordinated by U.S. Air Force Maj. Suzy Bogdan, MNSTC-I SAO. Bogdan said, “We had to coordinate the invitee list, get instructors and their materials here, plus arrange for their billeting.” She added, “This workshop has been a huge success, especially for the Government of Iraq in that it gives them the tools necessary to improve their ministries.”
Stephen Hurst, senior lecturer with DRMI, said, “We bring all these ministries together in one room where they can sit and talk to each other. There is a huge interaction that is likely as important as what we are presenting.”
DRMI instructor Louis Morales said, “We came here and asked the ministries what their shortcomings were with regard to education and training. Their reply to us was better project management, better budget preparation and execution, and a better understanding of costs.”
Hurst related a real-world example by telling the group, “When you purchase a Blackberry ™ device for $199, you have also committed yourself to another $80 a month for the service for each one of the devices.” Hurst added that one DRMI technique is to present the lecture then break the students into small groups that go over cases relating to challenges within their ministries.
Sabah Al-Ibrahem, Budget Director for the Ministry of Finance, said “The workshop was very significant and important for us to help develop skills in our work. This is especially true in a time when we move towards democracy. Now we will apply the skills for our economy through budgeting. Finance will work for the military, which will help in the defense of our country. Because of the skills learned by the attendees of this workshop, we are all specialists in budget and finance. We are grateful for the continued support of the government of Iraq. “
Counter-Terrorism Bureau Deputy Director Abdul Abbas Mohamed said, “I now have additional information to put together a budget that will pass through stages before approval. When we execute the budget, we will put in our minds all the information from the instructors and from the other attendees of this conference.”
MNSTC-I’s efforts in training and mentoring its Government of Iraqi partners represents a vital step towards ensuring Iraq’s self-sufficiency for the future.
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•This edition features a story on improved transportation for Iraqi school children.
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