excerpt from a report I wrote:
MancampsGetting workers to travel to various job sites in Iraq is no small feat. In addition to road closures, one has to deal with problems along the road: IEDs, RPGs, Small Arms Fire, etc., not to mention fuel shortage and long line ups that eat up hours of local national’s (LNs) time that could otherwise be spent working or with family but instead must be used to obtain fuel for their vehicles. Threats to workers regarding their safety, and that of their family, are taken seriously. Insurgents do not want them working with the Coalition forces, but the workers need jobs and many want to help rebuild their country. One effective way to get around the hostile environment outside the perimeter of a military base is to build man camps on base so that workers can live near the construction site. This is an added cost to the subcontractor in that he must feed and house the workers, but the return is worth the investment. Living on base means that the work force is reliable; they will show up for work everyday.
Building man camps and having workers live on base near the construction site has been so successful that new subcontractors buy old man camps from subs that have completed their work on base. Mancamps on base have changed hands multiple times as subcontractors finish their work on base and new subcontractors come in to begin the new work. This reduces start up time for new subcontractors as all the material is available for them immediately. They can begin working within days of being awarded the contract as they do not have to wait for tents, cooking material, etc. to arrive.
LogisticsBeing in the middle of nowhere means that obtaining logistics is a feat in and of itself. Many items take weeks to obtain. Baghdad is a two and half hour drive away on a good day and company convoys from Baghdad have decreased. This means that when ordering essentials, one must think and plan ahead, and always order extra. It is mandatory to always order before the supplies run out. For key staples, I always order two of anything so that when one breaks, we have a back up available immediately. Quality products in Iraq are difficult to obtain and that means that one must plan on items breaking frequently and have back ups in stock.
Toilet paper has proven to be a difficult item to find anywhere other than Baghdad, particularly in the Green Zone. It is not customary for locals in this country to use toilet paper and therefore it can only be found in large cities, like Baghdad. [To clean, locals use water and their left hand; expats have not adopted this custom]. One time when we were getting low and could find nothing in the local markets, we arranged with a contact in Baghdad to load up a truck top to bottom full of toilet paper. Storing that much toilet paper meant that mice ate some of the paper, but it lasted long enough to be worth the effort.
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