Stryker Brigade News

Baqouba takes major step forward, flour mill reopens

Aug-23-2007 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

Multi-National Division – North PAO

BAQOUBA, Iraq – The Baqouba public flour mill began processing wheat Monday, after being closed for nearly a year, marking the local production of flour in the Diyala Province as a major step toward Iraqi self-sufficiency.

“This is one more piece to the larger puzzle of providing normalcy here,” said Lt. Col. Fred Johnson, deputy commanding officer of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. “It’s probably the most important thing we’ve done.”

Five-hundred and sixty tons of imported wheat arrived in a 21-truck convoy at the flour mill on August 16th from Baghdad.

The grain, imported from the U.S., will be cleaned in multiple processes and milled with a mixture of 25 percent locally-grown wheat. The product will then be sacked and distributed to the local population as part of the Public Distribution System, an Iraqi program dating back to the 1980’s. The distribution program largely collapsed after insurgent forces disrupted PDS operations in Baqouba last year.

The mill is expected to employ around 100 workers in addition to truck drivers. Its addition to the local economy is expected to help lower the price of bread for the people of Diyala province. The mill is capable of producing 200 tons of finished flour per day.