Wassit environmental project launched

WASSIT / IraqiNews.com: A local contracting company has launched the first stage in a project to set up an environment department building in Wassit province, a senior official said on Tuesday. “The project is one of the Ministry of Environment’s projects for the year 2008,” Sabah Abbas Faleeh told IraqiNews.com. The total cost of the project is 4 billion Iraqi dinars (1 U.S. dollar = 1,118 Iraqi dinars), Faleeh explained, adding that the scheduled completion period is 365 days. A Shiite province, Wassit, 180 km south of Baghdad, is in the east of the country. Its name comes from the Arabic word meaning “middle,” as it lies along the Tigris about midway between Baghdad and Basra. Its major cities include the capital, al-Kut, and al-Hayy. Prior to 1976 it was known as Kut Province. SS (P) 1