Iraq oil wealth eludes poor in Basra

AlJazeera English TV – 3 November 2009

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The Iraqi government has been busy signing a series of billion-dollar deals with major international oil companies who are attempting to gain access to Iraq’s vast oil wells. But in poverty-stricken areas of the oil-rich southern city of Basra, residents say they have not seen any of the wealth generated by the deals. Instead, they have complained of widespread unemployment, intermittent electricity and wells filled with septic water.

Al Jazeera’s Owen Fay reports, interviews with:
Jabaar Amin, Head of Basra Provincial Council
Shiltay Aboud, Governor of Basra
and local residents

Umm Qasar Developments www.ummqasardevelopments.com

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