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Halabjans resent lack of investment:
Kurdistan
26.4.2006
By Mariwan Hama-Saeed in Halabja (ICR No. 174,
26-Apr-06)
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Stalled economic
development has stirred unrest in this
once-flourishing agricultural town.
Before the chemical weapon attacks, before it became
a symbol of Kurdish suffering at the hands of Saddam
Hussein's regime, Halabja was known as one of the
most agriculturally rich areas of Iraq.
Pomegranates, grains, grapes, tobacco and nuts grew
in Halabja's fertile soil. And those not working in
the town’s thriving agricultural sector were
employed by local factories.
Today, eighteen years after the Iraqi military
launched chemical attacks on this mountainous town
near the Iranian border, the factories destroyed by
war remain closed.
The agriculture industry, which once employed about
90 per cent of Halabjans, never recovered after the
1988 attacks and the United Nations-imposed
sanctions in the 1990s. Local products now struggle
to compete with lower-priced imports.
"Halabja's economy needs support," said Arsalan
Manucher, an economics professor at the University
of Sulaimaniyah who is from Halabja. "Even after all
that has happened in the area, it can be restored."
Many people in Halabja, a town of about 80,000 in
Sulaimaniyah province, feel betrayed because their
economy remains stalled since Kurds took
administrative control of the northeastern Iraqi
region in 1991.
Their expectations grew when sanctions were dropped
in 2003.
The lifting of the embargo led to an improvement in
the lives of many Iraqi Kurds, but few in Halabja
experienced any benefits.
Many of the survivors of the chemical weapons
attacks still suffer dozens of different ailments,
including cancer and respiratory issues, and there
is no decent health care. The roads are not paved,
and buildings hit during the Iran-Iraq war in the
1980s lie in rubble.
Last month, the memorial to Halabja's chemical
attack victims was set on fire during a protest over
poor services during an anniversary of the outrage.
Security forces opened fired on demonstrators,
killing a teenage boy.
Economics and political analysts believe the protest
stemmed from authorities’ neglect of the town.
Demonstrators who took to the streets said they
wanted more than empty promises of aid.
Shortly after the protest, the Kurdish government
pledged 30 million US dollars for projects in
Halabja. They will prioritise basic services, such
as water, roads and health care - economic
development is not high on the agenda.
Meanwhile, a conference on the rehabilitation of
Halabja was indefinitely delayed last week because
the Kurdish authorities did not come through with
the funds, said a conference organiser.
The Kurdish government’s financial transparency is
so poor that even the town's former mayor said he
didn't know how much money had been spent on Halabja.
Jameel Abdulrahman served as mayor from 1996 to 2006
and said the town does not have its own budget or
any control over finances.
If local authorities want something done, they must
ask the relevant ministries in Sulaimaniyah.
Abdulrahman said his requests for new factories for
canning tomato paste and preserving the town's famed
pomegranates have gone unheard.
Government officials say that the Sharazoor area, an
agricultural region containing several towns
including Halabja, received 105 million dollars over
the last three years - but many observers believe
that corrupt officials squander the funds.
However, misappropriation of government money is
difficult to detect because the authorities exercise
so little oversight and few local or international
organisations monitor public finances.
Last year, said Abdulrahman, the foundation stones
for three buildings were laid, but construction went
no further. "In the last ten years I have done all
my best for this town, but nothing has been done,"
he said.
The job market is equally static. The Kurdish
government says it wants to promote a free market
economy, but most Iraqi Kurds are employed by
government services - particularly the police force.
However, competition is stiff and job applicants
often have to rely on connections.
"The economic situation is terrible in Halabja,"
said Yaseen Najim, 27, an unemployed resident who
has tried several times to find work. "There is no
company or factory we can work in."
Agriculture, once Halabja's primary economic
resource, has had little support and local products
cannot compete with cheap imports of Iranian and
Syrian fruits and vegetables.
"It's a shame that we're importing products when we
have such fertile land," said Manucher.
Halabja has great potential, he maintained, but
farmers need better equipment, irrigation systems
and transportation.
"It's not just Halabja," said Ibrahim Khidr Ahmad,
head of the planning and follow-up directorate in
the Sulaimaniyah government's agriculture ministry.
"The situation for farmers and farming isn't good in
all of the areas [of Iraq]. The country was
destroyed."
Ahmad said ministry officials recently visited
Halabja to discuss assistance for the area, and have
allocated six million dollars for irrigation
projects. He also said the Baghdad government will
start buying Iraqi wheat this year - currently,
three quarters of the country’s needs are provided
by US imports.
But the authorities are reluctant to support
factories unless they are in private hands. So, for
instance, they have granted a 1.5 million dollar
loan to a Dutch company building a seven million
dollar dairy factory outside of Halabja.
"We're not taking on the burden of building
factories, because all government factories are
unsuccessful," he said. "All over the world the
private sector runs factories. The era of the
government building them and employing people is
over."
Mariwan Hama-Saeed is Kurdish editor of the Iraqi
Crisis Report.
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