Less than half of the project of Sulaymaniyah entrance, Bakhi Bakhtiari intersection, the main road connecting Sulaymaniyah to most Iraqi provinces, while less than 90 days is left to complete the entire project.
The project is implemented by the Garmian Gate Company, a local construction company, at a cost of about 13 billion Iraqi dinars IQD ($9 million), under the supervision of the Sulaymaniyah Municipality, according to the contract between them must be completed in 365 days, commenced on Septemer 1st, 2022.
Engineer Ahmad Sayed, supervisor of the Bakhi Bakhtiari intersection project in Garmian Gate Company, told KirkukNow that 42% of the work has been completed and five billion IQD have been spent.
"Part of the delay is due to tests abroad. Some items were sent in February and we have just received the results. Another part was related to the presence of the main water pipeline in the project, with the weather and heavy rains this year that affected the delay of the project.”
The project consists of two underpasses, one on Bakrajo Street and the other on Qilyasan Street.
The design of the project published by the Municipality of Sulaymaniyah.
The decision to build the intersection came after a survey by the Sulaymaniyah Municipality showed that 5,000 vehicles pass through it per hour, which is the highest compared to the streets of Sulaymaniyah.
Zardasht Rafiq, spokesman for the Sulaymaniyah Municipality, said: “This is one of the most important road projects in Sulaymaniyah and its construction will reduce congestion on Tasluja-Sulaymaniyah road.”
“Once completed, there will be easy movement, no more rush and traffic jam.”
Once completed, there will be smooth movement, no more rush and traffic jam
The project will connect Sulaymaniyah to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) provinces, as well as Kirkuk, the central and southern Iraqi provinces.
Soma Jamal, a resident of Sulaymaniyah who travels to work on this road daily, hopes it will be completed soon because it creates congestion and therefore does not reach work on time.
Underpass of Bakhi Bakhtiyari design published by the Municipality of Sulaymaniyah.
“I hope the project will be completed soon because we feel that it is not going well. If it goes like this, it will take a long time,” said Derin Nuradin, a student of University of Sulaymaniyah, few hundred meters away from the project.
“The government, municipality and relevant departments have to do follow up for the project and monitor the process.”
Hoshyar Ismail, a member of the projects committee of the Sulaymaniyah provincial council, said, "It is true that the work was not done well for a while, there were some obstacles, one of which was unstable weather, power cables, and water pipelines but it has been eased and the works are faster now.”
"The first part of the work is scheduled to be completed before the end of the project, that is, the main street will be opened as before, then work on the underpasses, but if not completed on time, then time will be compensated," Ismael added.
Lava Hissam, one of the participants of KirkukNow's “News Story Writing for Beginners” program, produced this report as part of the program.
