Nineveh Provincial Council approved the petrodollar budget and border crossings and issued a decision to criminalize cutting trees and stressed the activation of legal provisions to deal with the issue with the aim of protecting the environment.
The decisions came in a regular session of the Provincial Council held on Sunday, November 24, attended by 21 members, during which a number of environmental and service issues were discussed.
Ahmed Al-Abd Rabbah, the head of the Provincial Council's Energy Committee, said in a press conference attended by KirkukNow correspondent that the council decided to take measures for the environment, including criminalizing cutting trees, which he described as an "uncivilized phenomenon."
The council's statement stated that it was decided to activate Environmental Protection and Improvement Law No. 27 of 2009 and cutting down trees, as well as protect green areas and allocate areas for afforestation.
The Environmental Protection and Improvement Law prohibits any activity that directly or indirectly harms the environment, including the discharge of domestic, industrial, service or agricultural waste into internal surface and groundwater resources, the emission of smoke, gases, vapors or particles resulting from production processes or the burning of fuel, the cutting of perennial trees that are 30 years old or older, the spraying or use of pesticides or any other chemical compounds for agricultural, public health or other purposes, and the hunting of birds and wild animals.
The law imposes penalties for these environmental violations, including imprisonment for a period of not less than three months or a fine of not less than ten million Iraqi dinars IQD (USD6,700) and not more than twenty million IQD, or both penalties.
The Nineveh provincial council has been unable to hold regular sessions for weeks due to factions over the distribution of ranks and positions.
The council was divided into two factions. The first is the Future Nineveh Alliance, which successfully elected the heads of the administrative units holding 16 out of 29 total seats. This faction comprises the Coordination Framework forces, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK bloc, Sunni members, and three minority quota members.
The second faction consists of the United Nineveh Alliance and the KDP, holding 13 seats.
Part of Sunday's session was devoted to voting on approving the petrodollar budget and the border crossings budget, without any of the council members revealing any information about the details to the public.
Al-Abd Rabbo said that the council will continue to discuss service files, and the session also voted on the plan to establish a development road that extends from Basra to Zakho, passing through Turkey and Europe, as part of the road is located within the borders of Nineveh Province.
He pointed out that the issue of appointing mukhtars in Nineveh has not yet been resolved due to the failure to receive the CVs of some of the candidates.
The crisis of electing heads of administrative units was not discussed in the session, pending the Administrative Court’s final decision on it.
Nineveh Provincial Council has been divided into two fronts since last July, which led to the disruption of its regular sessions for several months. The crisis of the Nineveh Provincial Council arose after the Future Nineveh Alliance (16 seats) voted to elect heads of 20 administrative units in the governorate, while the United Nineveh Alliance and the Kurdistan Democratic Party bloc, which together have 13 seats, boycotted the council’s meetings and filed complaints with the Federal Court.
Idan Sheikh Kalo, member of the Yazidi (Ezidi) quota in the council, said during the press conference that the council discussed the issue of the displaced, as thousands of families displaced from Nineveh are still living in camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq KRI.
"It was planned to close all the camps and return the displaced to their areas by last July, but I think the deadline has been extended until the beginning of next year." Kalo said that the return of the displaced last summer was proceeding at a rapid pace but is now "almost at a standstill", and that they are seeking to remove obstacles to return.
The Presidency of the Council was elected months ago as part of a single package with the positions of the governor and his two deputies, according to an agreement between all the blocs, including the United Nineveh Alliance.
The KDP says they seek guarantees through agreement by senior official of the parties in Baghdad.
The Nineveh council and local government, including the posts of council speaker, governor, and deputies, were appointed in February by consensus of all council factions.
*This story has been produced as part of the 'Budget is Your Right' initiative, with support from the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
