KARBALA | Central Euphrates Airport | APPROVED

[elusive]

[BigDreamer]

isn't it Middle Euphrates International Airport ?

weird the cost is now only a meager $42 millon... I remember at one point it was in the billions of dollars.. >< I don't understand how can such a minuscule amount of money be enough for an international airport.. is it cheap labor, material cost?!

[sheytanElKebir]

this old thread should clear things up for you...

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1093729 Elusive please change the title of that thread as you promised.

"construction"??

what the hell is wrong with al fayhaa channel? They have soundly beaten Al Sharqiya's record for spreading bull*hit.

I mean, are they doing this just to be positive because they want to believe? It would be a better service for the people of Iraq if all the TV channels discussed the new projects, their good and bad points... rather than just spread negative bull*hit (sharqia) or positive bull*hit (iraqia and fayhaa).

In the end no one in Iraq is really well informed...

[elusive]

oops sorry about that...mod please merge this topic with the 'Middle Euphrates International Airport | Proposed' thread and delete this comment...cheers!

[dude01]

Originally Posted by BigDreamer

isn't it Middle Euphrates International Airport ?

weird the cost is now only a meager $42 millon... I remember at one point it was in the billions of dollars.. >< I don't understand how can such a minuscule amount of money be enough for an international airport.. is it cheap labor, materiel cost?!

Didn't baghdad's airport cost 900 million $ when it was constructed by the french ?

[BigDreamer]

yes... 900 mil was a lot of money back then.. you have to take inflation into account.. 42 million now days is no big deal at all..

[sheytanElKebir]

Guys. In case you didn't read the other thread. $42M is the DESIGN cost. ADP-I has a contract to design the airport. No construction work has started since Iraq is attempting to "sell" this airport to international investors to invest in before construction commences (but with the fiasco that happened with Najaf airport, I am guessing such "investors" will be rather thin on the ground).

So $42M is the "design" cost - Iraqi government paid for this.

$3Bn+ is the "construction" cost... Iraq is hoping foreign investors will fund this.

[BigDreamer]

So where is this project exactly located, is it in Karbala or Babil ?

Because I remember that it was about half way between Hilla and Karbala, but I'm not exactly sure which province the airport is located.

If someone can confirm the location, I'll merge the two threads under the right location

[elusive]

Originally Posted by BigDreamer

So where is this project exactly located, is it in Karbala or Babil ?

Because I remember that it was about half way between Hilla and Karbala, but I'm not exactly sure which province the airport is located.

If someone can confirm the location, I'll merge the two threads under the right location

they say karbala in the video, im not sure

[sheytanElKebir]

its next to the new karbala refinery in the desert between karbala and Najaf along the strategic oil pipeline

It is "in the middle" between karbala - hindiya - Najaf (closest point is khan al rub3 along the najaf-karbala highway which is also the junction for the road to Hindiya - Hilla)

location below showing distances to all three major cities (karbala to north, najaf to south and hilla to east).

about 25km to Karbala, 40km to Najaf and 35km to Hilla (approx).

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=32.3614033...9&z=10&l=0&m=b

[BigDreamer]

thanks for the info sheytan so you can confirm that it is indeed in Karbala and not Babylon/Najaf??

the source here has slightly different distances from what you posted, maybe the were referring to the distance towards the Karbala/Babil boundaries instead of Hilla..

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=11862

[sheytanElKebir]

Yes its in Karbala, but its called the "central euphrates airport" (not middle euphrates - that wouldn't make sense in English) - see map above. the link you sent confirms it (see distances from each major city). When I was working on the refinery next to the "new airport" the minister and I think Maliki came down and laid the "cornerstone" - lets hope more is built in time!!

[BigDreamer]

Originally Posted by sheytanElKebir

Yes its in Karbala, but its called the "central euphrates airport" (not middle euphrates - that wouldn't make sense in English) ...

yes lol, but that's the term they used in their press releases / media ..

[sheytanElKebir]

hoho.

managed to steal a view of the airport from an ADP-I presentation!

[elusive]

i wish they would hurry up with this project

[BigDreamer]

Nice one sheytan !!! first ever screenshot of thsi project ! you deserve an award =D

[makaay31]

welcome to karbala airport!

niqash | Abbas Sarhan | mon 24 jan 11

Twenty kilometres south of Karbala, on the way to Najaf province, there is a large sign, with the words Middle Euphrates/Karbala International Airport. The sign has been there for almost a year, but as yet, there is no airport.

In March 2010, on a cold spring day, a ceremony was held to lay the foundation stone for the airport project. It was attended by Amer Abdul-Jabbar, the then Minister of Transport, a number of MP's and representatives of local government.

But ten months later, the building work has still not started. And no-one seems to know the reason for the delay.

Bushra Hassan Ashour, a member of Karbala's provincial council, says the event was misunderstood. “It was meant to announce the chosen site for the project. Nothing more or less. It wasn’t meant to announce the actual start of the project."

But this contradicts the statements made by the former transport minister, who, a year earlier, had said that his ministry had contracted the French ADBI engineering company to prepare the architectural designs at a total cost exceeding US$43 million.

Some observers said that the rush to lay the foundation stone was simply an electoral strategy, pointing out that the event was organized five days before the parliamentary elections on 6 March 2010.

"Most of the projects announced before the elections were to get votes”, believes Isam Hakem, an Iraqi journalist.

For Karbala, the building of an international airport is hugely important. It would facilitate pilgrimages to the city, which has been receiving tens of thousands of visitors in the past few years.

But local officials in Karbala say that some administrative authorities are trying to block the implementation of the airport project.

“Several provinces in middle Euphrates wanted the airport to be built on their land for financial gains”, maintains Abdul Hassan al-Fourati, a former member of Karbala Provincial Council.

Moreover, he says, Najaf province is concerned about the building of a new airport in Karbala, as it will compete with its own airport.

Karbala International Airport, situated between the provinces of Karbala and Najaf, will cover an area of 40 square kilometres, and have a capacity of 30 million visitors a year.

In contrast, Najaf Airport, which is about twelve kilometres away, has a capacity of only 3 million visitors annually.

Currently, Najaf is the only province in Middle Euphrates, with an airport. It opened in August 2008, took a year to build and cost 91 billion Iraqi dinars or US$ 76 million.

Bushra Hassan Ashour believes there are a number of general managers in the transport ministry who were against building a new airport in Karbala and are now trying to obstruct the work.

“The personnel changes within the Ministry of Transport, after the former minister and several managers were sacked, together with the concerns of neighbouring Najaf province, are the main reasons why the project has been stalled.”

But she rules out both corruption and the high cost as reasons for the delay. "The project will be given to an investment company that wants to invest in the airport project and will commit to implementing the approved designs.”

Because the airport is an investment opportunity and it is the investor, not the government, who carries the cost, there is unlikely to be corruption, she says.

The idea for an airport in Karbala dates back to 2006 but it is only now that it is being implemented.

According to sources in the provincial council, a meeting was recently held between representatives of the council and the French engineering company, ADBI. A committee of specialists has been set up to look at the plans, and the council has also invited ADBI’s technical consultant, based in Baghdad, for further discussion.

Sami al-Faltawi, the chairman of the transport committee at the Karbala Council, says it will take four years to build the airport, once the designs have been approved, possibly by the middle of this year.

“The airport has become an urgent necessity and represents a strategic project for the local government."

[sheytanElKebir]

Originally Posted by makaay31

welcome to karbala airport!

But ten months later, the building work has still not started. And no-one seems to know the reason for the delay.

Bushra Hassan Ashour, a member of Karbala's provincial council, says the event was misunderstood. “It was meant to announce the chosen site for the project. Nothing more or less. It wasn’t meant to announce the actual start of the project."

But this contradicts the statements made by the former transport minister, who, a year earlier, had said that his ministry had contracted the French ADBI engineering company to prepare the architectural designs at a total cost exceeding US$43 million.

Some observers said that the rush to lay the foundation stone was simply an electoral strategy, pointing out that the event was organized five days before the parliamentary elections on 6 March 2010.

"Most of the projects announced before the elections were to get votes”, believes Isam Hakem, an Iraqi journalist. .....

thank you. Finally some "journalism" to vindicate my "lone voice of madness".

[makaay31]

haha , i think many iraqis share your point of view on things (like my dad), but maybe not on forums etc.

[BigDreamer]

how tragic .. we really need a mechanism to expose those who obstruct development in Iraq..