Iraq: Water and Electricity Supplies

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 11:15 am on 18 September 2003.

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Photo of Baroness Amos Baroness Amos Secretary of State, Department for International Development, The Secretary of State for International Development 11:15, 18 September 2003

My Lords, the situation in Baghdad was different from that in Basra; for example, vital infrastructure in Basra had been starved of investment. While there was access to services in Basra, it was not available at the full levels found in Baghdad. We have been trying, particularly in the south, not only to bring services back to pre-conflict levels but also to improve on that. When I was in Iraq I saw the terrible state of some water treatment plants, for example. As I said, we are not only trying to bring those services back to pre-war levels; we are also trying to raise their availability beyond those levels.