ATRA PROJECT 2003
(ZNDA: Dohuk) Zinda Magazine is in receipt
of a report from Dr. Ashour Moradkhan,
Director of the Atra Project in North
Iraq. In his statement released last
week.
Dr. Moradkhan explains that since his
return to North Iraq in late December
2002
the Atra Project staff has been able
to plant 85,000 new fruit trees, of
which only 2 percent have been damaged. "The
trees are healthy, growing fast and
strongly.. .This year our children and
families will have enough apples. But
not enough to go to market. Hopefully
in the coming year we will go to the
market with full hands", says
Dr. Moradkhan.
According to the statement, the current
demand
exceeds 100,000 apple and 50,000 peach
trees. Dr. Moradkhan explains that his
staff and the villagers will have planted
all 150,000 trees by the end of this
year: "because they are our soldiers
of peace, they will guard our lands
from the vultures". Dr. Moradkhan
is planning for the introduction of
nuts, almonds and pistachios in 2004.
The Atra Project's agricultural success
is already facing enforceable challenges.
For one, the value of dollar against
the Iraqi dinnar is dropping almost
daily. The possible war in Iraq is another
issue of concern to the project sponsors.
The local currency — the 1991
Iraqi "Swiss-print" dinar — is
trading at 7.6 to the dollar, up from
15 just last June. The currency is disappearing
from circulation, bringing the market
and much-needed U.N. reconstruction
projects to a standstill.
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In
addition to planting trees, Dr. Moradkhan
is investigating the ability,
susceptibility
and readiness of each village to learn
what can be done to increase each
Assyrian family's income. Building
tree nurseries
and fish farms are already under way.
With the money donated from the Bet-Eil
Assyrian Church, for example, a fish
farm is currently under construction.
It will be named the Bet-Eil (House
of God) Fish Farm. Plansfor
a nursery farm in the village of Sicrini
are also under way.
Rice fields,
water dams, deep wells, honey farms
are but a few projects
that expect
to raise the Assyrian families' income
in the coming years. Once picked from
the trees, the fruit require storage
and transport. Atra Project has
plans for
the building of storage facilities and
equipment, according to the statement.
If enough contributions are received
from the Assyrians living outside
of Iraq, Dr. Moradkhan explains
that many new Assyrian university
graduates can be employed in Atra
Project's offices and manufacturing
sites.
[For more information on Atra Project
contact your local Assyrian Aid
Society offices: in the U.S. visit
http://assyrianaid.org/chapters.html]
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