Repairing of bridge damaged by anti-ISIS wars in Syria’s Raqqa begin
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Board of Municipalities and Environment in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) announced on Monday, during a press conference, repairing works on the New Bridge (al-Rashid Bridge) in Raqqa have started.
On October 10, the board expressed readiness for repairing al-Rashid Bridge the most important and the largest vital facility in the city.
The board, during today’s conference, said all studies needed for repairing the destroyed portions of the bridge have been finished.
The bridge, which used to connect between the Euphrates River banks, went out of service in January 2017 during the war to expel Islamic State Organization (ISIS).
The bridge had been previously bombed and partially destroyed by Russian warplanes in November 2015.
Ilham Mattli, co-chair of Board of Municipalities and Environment, said the AANES is the party to fund the repairing works without being supported by any external party neither organizations nor the US-led Global Coalition.
The AANES was first formed in 2014 in the Kurdish-majority regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazira in northern Syria following the withdrawal of the government forces. Later, it was expanded to Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) defeated ISIS militarily.
Morias Company, based in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), is going to launch the repairing works, it is the first company to enter northeast Syria following the US license to exempt areas of northeast Syria from Caesar Act.
On May 12, the US Department of the Treasury issued a general license authorizing activities in northeast and northwest Syria in 12 economic sectors.
The sectors included agriculture, information and telecommunication, power grid infrastructure, construction, finance, clean energy, transportation and warehousing, water and waste management, health services, education, manufacturing, and trade.
However, oil-related transactions were excluded.
The Board of Municipalities and Environment set 12 months a duration for finishing the project.
Repairing the bridge will ease traffic congestion and shorten space between the cities of Raqqa and Tabqa, as the board put it.
There are 130 bridges in Raqqa and its countryside, 60 of which were either partially or completely damaged, according to substantive services committee in Raqqa Civil Council.
Drivers of cars with heavy loads have to travel to Tabqa Dam, 50 kilometers west of Raqqa, in order to move between both banks of the river, this process takes more time, effort and money. The repairing will alleviate sufferings of residents, farmers and travellers.