Power under Saddam's rule

By MALCOLM BURGESS

New Zealand may have got itself on the list of countries eligible for contracts to rebuild Iraq but who would want to work there?

Now safe and sound across the border in the Kingdom of Jordan, Kiwi power engineer Peter Till knows all about the mixture of frustration and satisfaction, excitement and danger, that goes with the territory.

For two years - until last Thursday - he was in charge of the diesel power generators for the United Nations Development Programme's electricity network rehabilitation programme in northern Iraq.

This included 1000 generators producing around 200 megawatts, enough power to feed a city the size of Christchurch.

However, after the UN recently handed the oil for food programme over to the Civilian Provisional Administration his contract came to an end and it was across the border to relaxation and safety.

So how did a former general manager of King Country Electricity and Bay of Plenty Electricity find himself in Iraq in the first place?

"The New Zealand electrical industry reorganised and small company managers were looking for work," he explains.

"I was very happy to get some 'post executive OE' and see the world ... and maybe make a difference."

Although Iraq seems fairly extreme as workplaces go, such settings aren't so unusual for someone in Till's line of work.

He says nearly all of the large consulting engineering companies - Worley, Beca Carter, Sinclair Knight Merz - operate in similar environments.

And despite the vast differences, some things made him feel not so far from home. "I bought Anchor butter in Erbil last year. And Kiwi boot polish is everywhere."

As a power engineer contracted to the UN, Till worked in the northern provinces of Erbil, Sulaimaniya and Dohuk, bringing Iraqi workers up to speed with new technology.

"We were very busy. Saddam only allowed about 80 expats, which was around 30 per cent of the number required ... to do the job properly."

One of the main issues he had to overcome was what he describes as "major deferred maintenance problems".

"The pre-Saddam system was very high class, but that was 30 years ago."

Till says the ordinary Iraqis he met were fascinating, but a "15-year technology gap" meant operating state-of-the-art technology could be a trial at times.

"That's all about the evolution of the computer and digital controls for power plants. They [the workers] expect to learn everything at once and the new magic to solve all problems."

The high quality of the pre-Saddam education system meant that the older engineers were very capable.

But tough times had left their mark on the education of workers since then. "The younger ones got their qualification by being in the right family and paying the right bakshees so it was a bit of a lottery."

There was also a rather different management culture to reckon with.

"The traditional organisational structure is incredibly flat in the Middle East. We saw charts with 13 direct reports.

"We had to get the Prime Minister out of bed at 2am to close a circuit breaker that tripped out on a fault.

"This means the average worker does nothing unless the boss is watching."

Till says the people he worked with had no social security, "but if your husband died fighting the foe then you get a job with the state" which led to staffing levels around five times greater than New Zealand in the bad old days.

Working under both the UN and Saddam might sound like layer upon layer of bureaucracy, but Till says the situation actually offered a surprising amount of freedom.

"In some ways we were unique in that we had the final responsibility for what we did. Most UN programmes are subservient to the local government and hand over the assets to the government at the conclusion of construction.

"In our case the money came from Saddam but he had no representative in the Kurdish autonomous region in the North of Iraq. The local Kurdish bosses were the effective power in the area."

The region was similar in some ways to Afghanistan, in that the Kurdish politicians there had their own currency and armed forces. "You're not in Kansas now, Dorothy," says Till wryly about life in the area.

The power programme Till was involved with catered to around four million people.

Its population had rebelled and become autonomous in 1991 and during the rebellion Saddam cut the power to the area.

A prolonged drought meant hydro power was ineffective and so diesel power was necessary as an emergency supply.

Next to maintenance issues, security was the biggest concern for anyone working in Iraq, says Till.

"The UN handled the security very well for the staff."

For instance, its decision to reduce staff levels twice during his time in the north proved to be the right thing to do.

Although worsening security didn't bring the UN programme in the north to a complete stop, Till says, it was certainly a big factor in the day-to-day operations.

"Things are a lot worse now in the independent north than they were in the last five years."

Till says the Baghdad regime was rumoured to keep files on all UN employees, so everyone was careful.

"We generally had drivers who stopped you making a complete fool of yourself as long as you listened."

Getting around Iraq was something of an eye-opener, says Till, who describes the traffic there as "amazing".

You think Auckland traffic is bad? Imagine "overtaking three wide on a two-lane road with oncoming traffic in drizzly rain".

Till says local women were also off-limits and transgressions by expats could create serious problems.

"The number of intelligence agencies round the world reporting on the UN in Iraq was very large. It would have been the world's worst place to have an affair as every move was analysed far and wide."

Till has mixed views about where Iraq is now headed.

"The CPA have started well but the sheer size of the job in front of them makes their chances of success dodgy. Having said that ... they can always say that someone else's muddle would have been bigger."

While many of his friends are now trying to get work with the CPA, such a prospect doesn't hold the same appeal for him. He'll be home in New Zealand for Christmas and to look for work.

"I think the security [in Iraq] will be bad for several years and it's not worth the bother."

Although it's nice to make a difference, he says, he's in no hurry to go back.

"The local stories are worse than you see on BBC and CNN."

Herald Feature: Iraq