Work began today for the Ministry of Higher Education at the Zafrania Technical Institute, one of the five colleges in the Zafrania higher education system. The college educates some 25,000 students annually and awards two year associate's style degrees in many fields, from accounting to teaching and to electrician work.

Two buildings will be demolished (a computer center and a metal shop) and two buildings will be partially demolished (a library which burned and part of a large cafeteria facility which burned).

As most of these buildings are rather small (500 sq. meters or less), the project will employ roughly 50 workers for about a month.

Other projects will begin at the other colleges in Zafrania when more JumpStart foremen complete their on-the-job training programs.

Work began today at the Zafrania Business Institute. The entire business institute campus, which has been mostly destroyed by bomb damages and looting, used to hold classes in facilities for over 2,000 students.

As part of the project, several large buildings will be demolished and other areas will be cleared and cleaned in preparation for re-use.

The Iraqi army had a large munitions dump near the Zafrania Business Institute campus. After the war ended, depending on whose version of the story you believe, either 3 "resistance" fighters fired some RPGs into the dump or a Coalition forces soldier had a accident at the dump. A total of 40 people in the surrounding communities were killed by the explosions, which rained a lot of munitions throughout the area. One or more US soldiers were also killed. The munitions dump took a few months to clean up, and up to November, still hadn't been cleared completely.

On the ground in the area nearby the school grounds were a variety of UXO (unexploded ordinance), including cluster bomblets, land mines, mortar rounds, artillery shells, etc.

Explosions in the neighboring ammo dump were so powerful most of the buildings sustained extensive structural damage.

Looters destroyed the buildings after the bombs.

Exterior view, Zafrania Business Institute, front.

Auditorium classrooms were looted for seats, tiles, electrical components, etc. About 20 squatter families live in different areas of the campus.

An overview of the campus from the roof of one of the buildings. Many of the buildings will be demolished to the ground.

Work was completed yesterday at the Zafrania Technical Institute, ahead of schedule.

Under the project, two buildings were completely demolished and two buildings were partially demolished, clearing the land for re-use and rebuilding. Bricks from the computer center and the library were saved for re-use on the college campus, and scrap metal was placed in the care of the college for resale.

Zafrania Technical Institute Computer Laboratory (looted & burned)

Zafrania cafeteria (burned)

(cafeteria - after clearing)

Zafrania Technical Institute Library, interior

Zafrania Technical Institute Library, #2, interior

Zafrania Technical Institute Metalworking Shop, interior

Zafrania Technical Institute Metalworking Shop, exterior

Zafrania Technical Institute, Computer Center

Zafrania Technical Institute Cafeteria, exterior

Work began today on the demolition of a warehouse/workshop of the Zafrania Teaching Institute today.

Approximately 20 workers will be employed to clear the building over a period of 2-3 weeks. Engineer Emad manages the project.