The airport in Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, is set to be reconstructed by 2024, officials said on Wednesday as Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi laid the project's foundation stone.
The international airport was severely damaged during the 2017 battle to liberate Mosul from ISIS and has not been used since the extremists overran the city in 2014.
During the inauguration ceremony, the prime minister said "huge efforts" were being made to rebuild the war-torn city five years after the battle to push ISIS out.
"The project to reconstruct Mosul's international airport is of strategic importance for our people which will provide job opportunities and will facilitate transportation," Mr Al Kadhimi said.
In February 2021, the French company ADP Ingenierie signed an agreement with the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority for the airport’s reconstruction.
However, two Turkish companies have been assigned to take over the reconstruction phase, which is expected to take up to two years to complete, local officials said.
Baghdad was given total control of the airport in 2011. It had been under the control of US troops after the 2003 invasion.
For years, the airport was used as an airfield for Iraqi forces especially in the 1970s.
"I am doing so to send a message that Iraqis deserve to live their lives, and that they are able to turn challenges into opportunities for success," Mr Al Kadhimi said.
Since the removal of ISIS, construction has moved at a very slow pace in the city of more than one million inhabitants.
Life has largely returned to normal. Shops, schools and universities have reopened, while international organisations have funded a project to restore historic sites.
Titled "reviving the spirit of Mosul", under the auspices of the United Nation's cultural agency, Unesco, the project will reconstruct the famous Al Nuri Mosque and two other churches.
The UAE is funding the project by donating $50 million to Unesco.
The city of Mosul is a prime example of "Iraqi coexistence and diversity which we consider an element of strength", said the prime minister.
"Mosul proves that Iraq has a lot of human capabilities and competencies due to its history and people," Mr Al Kadhimi said.
The Red Cross estimated that 35 per cent of west Mosul residents and less than 15 per cent in east Mosul, which bore the brunt of the fighting, have enough water to meet their daily needs in 2021.
The government is also building another international airport in the northern city of Kirkuk.
"We need integration and co-operation between all Iraqis in doer to build a country worthy for its people," Mr Al Kadhimi said.
The prime minister said he would redouble efforts to bring the corrupt to justice, to remove obstacles preventing the country from rebuilding.
What is a calorie?
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram.
Correspondents
By Tim Murphy
(Grove Press)
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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