The head of the Services Committee in Kirkuk Provincial Council, Ahmed Kirkuki, stressed that there are ten projects currently being implemented in Kirkuk that are not part of Kirkuk’s budget, but rather that the Iraqi government is the one that has disbursed the funds for their implementation as an exceptional situation, because the 2024 budget for the projects has not been disbursed yet.
Kirkuki says during this interview with (KirkukNow) that “some of the other projects of the Kirkuk Provincial Administration are being implemented at the expense of the contractor, through the governor’s relations with the contractors, as they were convinced to implement the projects and they will be paid after the budget is disbursed.”
Regarding the process of monitoring the government’s performance, he said, “Our duty is to monitor, but we do not hide the fact that we support the Kirkuk local administration because “we decided to serve the citizens.”
KirkukNow: As we see, the Kirkuk administration has begun implementing a group of projects. Can you explain what these projects are? How do you monitor their implementation?
Ahmed Kirkuki: Working in Kirkuk, where provincial council elections have not been held for many years, is undoubtedly difficult. Overcoming a number of political problems and rebuilding trust between political parties was not easy, but we decided from the beginning that the local government in Kirkuk would be a service government. As you know, Kirkuk was marginalized, so we started by providing services to neighborhoods and areas that were marginalized on the basis of ethnicities. One of the priorities of the Kirkuk administration was to work in the field of road construction, paving, water and sewage in neighborhoods. Since the beginning of work, more than 200,000 square meters have been paved with concrete and work is ongoing. The environmental aspect and afforestation are other main tasks within the local government's work program.
KirkukNow: What have you provided in the field of the environment?
Ahmed Kirkuki: We started by rehabilitating and restoring a number of parks and gardens inside the city, establishing new parks and it is planned to plant 6,000 trees to increase the percentage of green spaces, especially at the entrances to the city. So far, 3,000 trees have been planted and work is underway to plant 3,000 more trees, in addition to a number of strategic projects. These projects are being implemented in Kirkuk as an exceptional circumstance because, as you know, the provincial budget for 2024 has not been spent yet.
KirkukNow: What are the projects being implemented as an exceptional case in Kirkuk?
Ahmed Kirkuki: The projects consist of establishing two large parks in Kirkuk, each of which is no less than 100 donums (10 hectares) in area, north and south of the city. This project will contribute to cleaning the environment and increasing the percentage of greenery. There is a tunnel construction project in addition to other projects to clean the city and recycle waste.
Previously, the amount of waste collected daily in Kirkuk was about 300 tons a day, but now it has reached 1,300 tons. But we want to benefit from this waste, and the Kirkuk administration is working to sign contracts with a number of companies to recycle the waste to benefit from it in energy production and other fields.
KirkukNow: At what level is the monitoring process? Because there are some projects that have been suspended for a long time without being completed, for example, the Sarchinar neighborhood square, as well as the Ahmed Khani square (Ikhwan roundabout)?
Ahmed Kirkuki: Our mission is to monitor the government's performance, but we do not hide the fact that we greatly support the administration because the local government decided to serve the citizens and we support it.
Yes, we monitor the projects daily and if we find any delays or obstacles, we notify the relevant authorities. For example, Ahmed Khani Square (Ikhwan Roundabout) was initially removed and there were attempts to reduce its area, but we intervened and stopped the project. The governor decided to implement a large project on the site starting early next year and turn it into an underpass.
KirkukNow: Where do the funds allocated for these projects come from while the provincial council has not yet approved the 2024 budget? We also want to know how the funds for these projects are spent?
Ahmed Kirkuki: The projects currently being implemented in Kirkuk are not funded from the Kirkuk budget, but rather as exceptional cases through the governor's efforts in coordination with Baghdad.
KirkukNow: How much money was spent on Kirkuk as exceptional cases?
Ahmed Kirkuki: The funds were allocated to implement ten projects, but I do not know the exact amount.
KirkukNow: In addition to the projects you mentioned as exceptional cases, there are other projects, who will fund them?
Ahmed Kirkuki: We have the petrodollar budget, it was decided to spend this budget on service projects, so some projects are funded from this budget, and some of the other projects of the Kirkuk Province administration are implemented at the expense of contractors and the money will be disbursed to them once the 2024 budget is approved.
