Iraqi unrest costly for NZ company

1.00pm

Murders of international civilian workers in Iraq have caused a Palmerston North firm to bin its plans to bid for more than $10 million worth of security technology work there.

"If that happened to any of our people I just couldn't live with myself," R&D Solutionz marketing manager Chris Symonds said.

Last month 16 foreign businessmen and contractors were murdered in Iraq. They included American, British, Canadian, Dutch and Finnish people. In many cases the bodies were mutilated.

R&D Solutionz has a range of products used internationally, mainly related to building and retail security. Its staff of about 15 is achieving an annual turnover of between $2.5 and $3.5 million.

The firm had been preparing to bid for up to nine contracts in Iraq.

Mr Symonds said the March 22 Baghdad incident, when two Finnish businessmen on their way to the Ministry of Electricity were shot dead by a sniper, tipped the balance.

"Those guys were doing a project, just as our guys might have been doing," he said.

The latest atrocity at Falluja -- four American civilian workers meeting a fiery death then being strung up on display on a bridge -- confirmed his feelings.

"I got cold feet when the Finnish guys were shot. (The latest killings) just vindicated the decision.

"The idea of working in Iraq wasn't popular with our staff, and we would have had to put some of our people on the ground over there if we won a contract," Mr Symonds said.

The company's new "Gnome" system was to have played an important role in bids for work in Iraq. In its basic form the system links high-tech security surveillance systems with point-of-sale transaction records and takes just seconds to pick out a single event from 30 days or more of DVD recording and link it to a transaction, a person and a vehicle.

Mr Symonds said he had been working with the Palmerston North office of NZ Trade and Enterprise toward pursuing work under nine of 26 contracts currently on offer under the international programme to help rebuild the Iraqi economy.

New Zealand participation in the programme is through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, working through Trade and Enterprise, which began building a register of interested firms early this year.

- NZPA