Mosul sewage coverage remains at 2.5%, Iraq official tells French consul

MOSUL, Iraq — Iraq's Director General of General Sewerage, Imad Tawfiq, said the city of Mosul continues to record one of the lowest sewerage service coverage rates in the country, currently standing at 2.5%. He shared the assessment during a visit to the city with France's consul general and a foreign-financed projects official from the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Public Municipalities. Tawfiq said physical progress at the heavy wastewater treatment plant on Mosul's right bank has reached 83%, against a planned rate of 76%. The sewerage project on the same side of the city is about 65% complete, according to his figures. Once both projects are brought online together, sewerage service coverage in Mosul is expected to rise to 45%, he said. Officials have attributed the decline in sewerage services to extensive damage sustained during the Islamic State offensive and the subsequent military operations to retake the city. The ministry is also coordinating with local and international partners on a new sewerage project for the town of Hamam al-Alil in cooperation with the French Development Agency, Tawfiq added.