|
Kurdistan: Women get a break at the pumps
5.10.2006
By Azeez Mahmood in Sulaimaniyah (ICR No. 197,
04-Oct-06) |
|
|
|
Authorities provide women with their own petrol
station to spare them the discomfort of queuing days
for fuel.
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan Region (Iraq), --
Hour after hour, Barez Qadir sits in her car in the
sweltering heat, waiting her turn at the Bakthiar
filling station on
the outskirts of Sulaimaniyah. Other women manage to
escape the blazing temperatures, finding shade under
some nearby trees.
The Bakthiar petrol station is a women-only service
introduced by the authorities to spare female
drivers the arduous, uncomfortable queuing that car
owners have to endure at pumps across the region.
But such is the severity of the fuel crisis gripping
Iraq at present that even here at Bakthiar the lines
of vehicles waiting their turn sometimes seems
endless.
"I wish I could leave this country,” said Qadir.
“[My husband and I are] thinking about selling our
home and traveling to Europe one way or another.
Life is terrible here.”
After the fall of the former regime, the number of
cars in Iraq multiplied. But the supply of fuel
could not keep up with increased demand, and
shortages were made worse by corruption, theft and
the growth in the number of fuel -powered
generators, which people bought because of the
constant electricity cuts.
The fuel crisis is now the source of growing
political tension. Last month, drivers staged a
protest in Sulaimaniyah, blocking several roads. And
some analysts are suggesting that further unrest has
the potential to bring down the current government,
especially if there’s a sharp rise in prices.
For the moment, the situation at Bakthiar is calm.
Every day, nearly 500 women come to fill their cars
- or those of their husbands. While waiting,
they get out and chat to pass the two or three hours
it takes to be served.
Because the queues here are shorter than at other
pumps - where drivers often have to wait up to a
couple of days to be served - men get their wives to
fill up their cars at Bakthiar, which can cause all
sorts of problems if they are poor drivers.
"Those women often can't drive well and crash
against other cars,” said civil servant Gashbeen
Mahmood, 36.
Staff at the filling station say they can tell which
women have been sent to Bakthiar by their husbands
by the cars they’re driving - the most obvious cases
being those at the wheels of pick-ups and “Monicas”,
Toyota four-wheel drive land-cruisers (named after
Monica Lewinsky because it is so popular with men).
The number of women drivers in the region remains
relatively low - just over 9,000 female inhabitants
of Sulaimaniyah, which has a population of 650,000,
got their licenses over the last sixteen years.
Being able to drive has a liberating effect on many
women, allowing them to lead more independent lives.
"I no longer have to wait for my husband to take me
out, I go wherever I want," said Jwana Salih, 25,
who owns a hairdressing salon.
Although the queues at Bakthiar are shorter than
elsewhere, women nonetheless complain that they are
waiting too long. In response, the filling station’s
management has introduced several measures to cut
down the queues.
For instance, customers now have to produce a
driving license, which is aimed at discouraging
those who are only there to fill up their husband’s
vehicle or that of another family member.
Notwithstanding the problems at Bakhtiar, the
station’s supervisor, Pshtiwan Mahmood, insists that
his customers are generally happy with the service.
"It is the men who create problems. At their pumps,
there are always fights in the queues. This seldom
happens here, " he said.
Azeez Mahmood is an IWPR trainee journalist in
Sulaimaniyah.
iwpr net
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 