Al Hawd villagers work to clean up the streets for a trash cleanup project that started the week of Sept. 13. The project has employed 100 local residents to complete the cleanup. Photo by 1st Lt. Josh Swartsel, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment.

Citizens of the Hawd and Ijimissa villages here recently began a month-long cleanup effort to remove trash that has been accumulating in the streets for some time.

U.S. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division are assisting in the effort.

The project was conceived by the Mayor of Qayyarah, Mayor Saleh, as part of a larger urban renewal effort by the district to improve the quality of life for citizens of the upper Tigris River valley.

“We pretty much take trash collection for granted [in the U.S.]. Al Hawd and Ijimissa don’t have the same kind of service level, and so it falls on these people to pick up the trash themselves,” said Staff Sgt. Kiel Carino, a section sergeant in Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Bn., 12th Cav. Regt.

The project was coordinated through local contractors who are providing trucks to take the trash to the local city dump, and basic tools to assist in clearing the roads of trash and debris.

Approximately 100 local residents have been employed for this project. The site managers are hiring workers to clean up areas where they live to create a sense of ownership in the neighborhoods.

“When I spoke to one of the site managers, he had a very detailed plan for how he was going to go about clearing the streets in an organized fashion,” said Carino. “You could tell that this was something he’d put a lot of thought and effort into.”

Headquarters Co. Soldiers then met with local leaders at the Qayyarah City Council. Mayor Saleh told the local leaders that, as civic leaders, it was up to them to ensure that their communities kept their streets clean and litter-free.

The workers have already started clearing trash in parts of the two villages and are making a significant impact on the area.

“There’s already an undeniable difference in the appearance of the streets in Al Hawd and Ijimissa,” said Capt. Lance Blount, Headquarters Co. commander. “Corners and ditches that used to be overflowing with waste are now completely clean. It’s a great improvement for the local community.”

The cleanup project is set to be complete by the end of September, ending in a ribbon-cutting ceremony that will give the local civic leaders an opportunity to showcase their clean streets as a model for the entire Qayyarah area.

“It is hard work like this that is going to make Qayyarah a real success story,” said Blount.

MNF-I
By 1st Lt. Josh Swartsel
12th Infantry Regiment