BAGHDAD, May 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a $1.8 million Iraqi security force operations center in Mosul and launched a sewage project in Basra province.
Engineers refurbished an abandoned facility used by the construction firm Kellogg, Brown and Root for Iraqi security forces to use as a barracks and operations center in Mosul, the Corps said in a statement Thursday.
Alda Ottley, a project engineer with the Corps, stressed if Iraqi security forces are to stand up and U.S. forces stand down, "the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police need training, equipment and the facilities to be successful."
Ottley said the facility will enable national security forces to take control of security operations in northern Iraq.
Further south, engineers embarked on a $1.9 million project to replace the sewage network associated with the Al-Sadr Teaching Hospital in Basra province.
The rehabilitation includes a 40 cubic meter per hour treatment plant and general upgrades to piping and other outlet systems.
"The installation of a complete sanitary sewage treatment plant will positively affect the hospital condition and provides a healthier environment for the hospital," said Josh Morgan with the Corps' Basra office.
Talib Saleem, the administrator of the facility, said the treatment plant linked to the hospital hasn't worked in over a decade.
The Al-Sadr Teaching Hospital treats about 480 patients every day, with more than 100 requiring emergency care, Saleem said.
