Contract with Belgian firm to dig channel at Umm Qasr

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi minister of transportation has signed a contract with a Belgian company representative to dig a channel at Umm al-Qasr port, an informed source said on Thursday. “Today, Transportation Minister Aamer Abduljabbar signed a 52-million-euro contract with a representative of a Belgian company, which will undertake the digging of a channel at Umm Qasr Port,” Hassan Mohammed Abdullah told IraqiNews.com news agency. The project will be financed through a Japanese loan worth $256 million U.S. dollars, Abdullah explained. The Shiite province of Basra lies 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. SS (P)/SR 2