The company in charge of collecting garbage in Khanaqin district stopped its work after one of the drivers working for the company was arrested and his vehicle was confiscated.
The vehicle's driver was arrested a few days ago at a federal government checkpoint between Kalar and Khanaqin districts while transporting fuel to waste removal vehicles belonging to the Gardin Company, after he was accused of "fuel smuggling", and his vehicle was seized along with the fuel tanker.
Soran Ali Hussein, director of the municipality of Khanaqin - affiliated with the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG- told (KirkukNow), “Given that the plate numbers of all Gardin Company vehicles were issued by the governorates of the Kurdistan Region and their registration documents are in the name of the company, they are not entitled to refuel from Khanaqin, so they are forced to bring fuel from Kuridstan region.”
“They have an official letter authorizing the company to do so, and it has never faced problems before,” he added.
“A few days ago, they encountered a problem at one of the checkpoints, and one of the company’s drivers was arrested, and his vehicle, which was transporting a fuel shipment from Kalar, was confiscated, so the company stopped its work.”
The Iraqi government provides state-subsidized fuel at public petrol stations all over Iraq, including the disputed territories, excluding the Iraqi Kurdistan Region IKR.
Out of a total of 42 neighborhoods in Khanaqin, Gardin Company collects waste in 32 of them, and the company has employed 100 cleaners under contracts to complete the work.
We stopped working four days ago by the decision of the municipality and the company
One of the cleaners in Khanaqin told KirkukNow, “We stopped working four days ago by the decision of the municipality and the company. They say that the company may withdraw from Khanaqin. In this case, we cleaners will lose our work.”
Khanaqin District, home to 90,000 Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens, Sunnis and Shias, is part of Diyala province and is one of the disputed territories which extends from Khanaqin, on the border with Iran, to the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk up to Shingal (Sinjar), home to the Ezidi community, in Mosul, in the far west, on Iraq-Syria borders.
Most of the disputed territories were under control of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces up to October 2017, when the Iraqi Security Forces ISF took over control of these territories following the defeat of ISIS.
The mayor of Khanaqin said, "Waste is being removed in 10 neighborhoods by the municipality affiliated with the federal government. They have few vehicles and equipment and cannot handle all the areas, so waste has been piled up in Khanaqin for four days."
The representative of the Gardin company in Khanaqin refused to make statements about the reaction of the company, but according to information obtained by (KirkukNow), the driver was released on bail, but the vehicle and fuel shipment are still in custody in the city of Baqubah.
Ali Hussein, head of the services department in Khanaqin Municipality, told (KirkukNow), “In order to receive your share of fuel in Diyala Governorate, the vehicle must be registered in your name. Gardin Company vehicles are registered in the name of the company and their license plate numbers are issued by the governorates of the Kurdistan Region, so they are not included in the fuel share.”
The company is forced to transport 1,000 liters of diesel from Kalar to Khanaqin every week
“The company is forced to transport 1,000 liters of diesel from Kalar to Khanaqin every week, according to a letter from the Khanaqin administration, but this time those in charge of the checkpoint argued that the date of issuance of the Khanaqin administration letter is old,” Hussein added.
According to Khanaqin Municipality statistics, Gardin Company removes 70 tons of waste daily, as well as watering 80 percent of the garden trees.
Locals are concerned if the case is not solved quickly, more waste to accumulate shortly.
Sirwan Muhammad, a resident of Khanaqin, said, "The city's view is distorted due to the accumulation of waste. If the problem is not solved quickly, Khanaqin will drown in waste."
“We fear that the company will withdraw and the situation will worsen,” said the head of the services department in the Khanaqin municipality.
End of 2022, litter accumulated in the neighborhoods and streets of Khanaqin, due to the strike of cleaners for delay in payment of monthly salaries.
Workers collecting garbage in Khanaqin have been on strike in mid-October 2022, demanding the payment of their August and September salaries.
The workers have a contract with Gardin Company to clean Khanaqin and are paid 300,000 Iraqi dinars IQD (USD200) monthly.
