Tens of civil servants of Ninewa Health Department demonstrated on Tuesday asking for a monthly salary unpaid in 2017 due to embezzlement by a private sector company.
Once the extremist militants took over Mosul and large swathes in Iraq back in 2014, the Iraqi government has decided to pay civil servants whom fled their hometowns to neighbor cities via a private company instead of paying them directly in cash.
The company has received two payments for two months for health and education employees of Ninewa in 2017 yet it has not been delivered to the civil servants and the owner of the mediator company disappeared.
The Iraqi government then has compensated one payment yet so far, the second has not been covered up today.
“In 2017, that company was paying us on monthly bases yet it has taken the salary of two months for all IDPS of Ninewa province and fled abroad,” said Murad Abdi, in charge of a health center in Ninewa.
“Tens of times we have called on local officials of Ninewa to pay us those two salaries. The Iraqi government has covered one month yet the second has not been paid,” he added.
“We had no any contact with that company thus it is the Iraqi government and ministry of health to take action against that company and grant us our rights.”
the Iraqi government and ministry of health to take action against that company and grant us our rights
KirkukNow has come to know that the amount is about six billion Iraqi Dinars (5 M USD) for civil servants of health and education sector in Ninewa.
Local officials said the relevant ministries are in charge of the issue.
Ali Omar Gabo, deputy governor of Ninewa for issues of the Internally Displaced People IDPs, said the issue has nothing to do with administration of Ninewa Province.
“Departments of education and health are directly connected to the ministries in Baghdad which should respond and sort out this issue,” he added.
Gabo has not revealed any details about the company and whereabouts of the case.
Six million people were displaced during the conflict against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from 2014 to 2017, said United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA.
