A team of the US' Fluor Corporationwith the UK's AMEC was awarded two contracts worth up to $600 million - in the north - and up to $500 million - in the south - for the rehabilitation of the water and wastewater systems. The team will be responsible for, in the DoD's words, 'the rehabilitation of existing, and construction of new, potable water distribution and treatment systems, municipal sewer collection and treatment systems, and solid waste management systems'.

A team of Contrack International, the US subsidiary of Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), American International Contractors, OCI and Geneva-registered Archirodon Construction (Overseas)was awarded a contract with a ceiling of $325 million to carry out reconstruction in the transport sector, encompassing airports, ports, roads, bridges and railways.

The US' Lucent Technologieswon a smaller contract, with a ceiling of $75 million, to repair and upgrade communications systems.

There are 17 contracts in total under the $5,000 million programme being directed by the project management office (PMO) of the Coalition Provisional Authority. On 10 March, seven programme management contracts were awarded, covering the electricity, water, public buildings, transport, oil and security sectors, plus an overarching supervision mandate.