Kirkuk waste services get upgrade

KIRKUK, Iraq, May 12 (UPI) -- U.S. airmen stationed in northern Iraq coordinated with reconstruction teams to teach Iraqis preventive maintenance techniques on waste management equipment.

Logistics personnel with the U.S. Air Force trained 11 Iraqis on the best practices for fluid, equipment and pre-operation checks for the city of Kirkuk's new waste-management vehicles.

Provincial reconstruction teams deployed in Kirkuk used U.S. Army funds to purchase waste disposal vehicles, water trucks and front-end loaders for the city.

Outdated equipment and an inadequately funded municipality department left much of the area around Kirkuk without a functioning waste management system, leaving waste and refuse littered in the streets.

Best-management practices ensure not only healthy living conditions for area residents, but also the security of regional forces as waste is "a common place for insurgents to plant improvised explosive devices," one U.S. official said.

The U.S. military said in a press release that plans are underway to improve area landfills for the more than 700,000 residents of Kirkuk.