The unanimous voting by the Provincial Council of Babylon has decided that from now on the airport of Mid-Euphrates which is situated in the land that is the part of Babylon, Najaf and Karbala will be managed by these three provinces.
It is the demand of the Babylon PC that Erect Hilla Grand Airport should be assigned for commercial cargos only.
Mahdi Aakul, the head of Investment Committee in PC has confirmed that all of the three provinces will have equal responsibility in managing the airport, because it is a tactical project which will offer services to the provinces of Middle Euphrates and Babylon. It will also help to develop the infrastructures of the provinces.
He also added that Premier, Nouri al-Maliki has provided 600 millions of IQD for the completion of the project.
According to Aakul’s statement a thorough discussion has been conducted among Babylon Investment Commission, local government and the French Company executing this project to make this airport truly international.
It is also relevant to remind that Amir Abdul Jabbar, former Minister for Transportation had set the corner stone for Mid-Euphrates airport back in March 2010 and that one is situated about 27 km south to Karbala.
This topic of constructing the airport has given birth to disagreement between Karbala PC and MoT due to the supposed hindrance to the airport from the oil refinery project which is to be constructed near the airport.