Baghdad without service projects... and a government move to expedite their implementation

[size=52]Baghdad without service projects... and a government move to expedite their implementation[/size]

[size=45]Saif Abdullah[/size]
[size=45]Despite the importance of Baghdad as the capital, it suffers from a lack of service projects in it. The government confirmed the start of urban development projects in different regions, while activists and citizens denounced media statements without providing services on the ground.[/size]
[size=45]Waiting for the designs of the Sadr City project[/size]
[size=45]In this regard, the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers confirmed that the Sadr City project is about to be referred to implementation by a Chinese company.[/size]
[size=45]The secretariat’s spokesman Haider Majid told Al-Mada that “Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi directed the formation of a committee to develop and rehabilitate Al-Sadr City, which included the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, the Mayor of Baghdad, the Governor of Baghdad, the Operations Command and the municipal departments within the city’s sectors and a number of other concerned parties.” .[/size]
[size=45]Majid added, "The project includes the construction of 90,000 housing units with their vital facilities, including health and educational facilities, as well as a network of roads and bridges inside the city, linking them to the surrounding areas."[/size]
[size=45]He explained that "the project comes to advance the economic and living reality of Sadr City and will transform it into a qualitative leap," noting that "the government referred the project to the Iraqi-Chinese framework agreement, and one of the Chinese companies will implement it." Majid indicated, "The Cabinet Secretariat has completed many procedures, the most important of which is the plot of land on which the project will be implemented, with state real estate, and the land is now in favor of the Baghdad Municipality." He continued, "The committee is now awaiting the company's development of designs and approval, and then an understanding with the Chinese side to implement it," explaining that "the project is included in the 2021 budget of the Ministry of Planning."[/size]
[size=45]Media statements without services[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, activist Hamid Al-Shammari, 29, told Al-Mada that "the government has not provided anything to the capital, Baghdad, whether in terms of social or service, except for media statements, the white paper and the reforms it brought, but they were not translated on the ground."[/size]
[size=45]He added, "Traffic jams still exist, and they are the greatest problem that the citizen faces in the capital, as the government, despite the money it collects from traffic, roads and bridges, has not implemented service projects such as bridges, tunnels and new ways to solve the crisis."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Shammari pointed out that "the congestion is the same and is increasing and more complex than before, not to mention the poor quality of the streets and important roads and the large number of unregulated imports of cars, which exceeded 6 million, although the capital's streets accommodate nearly 500,000."[/size]
[size=45]As for the citizen, Hasan Majid, 30 years old, he told Al-Mada, "We do not know where the huge money, which amounts to billions of traffic, goes, and where it will be spent, and on what it will be spent."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that "the Al-Baghdadi citizen suffers greatly from the absence and lack of services, job opportunities, and service and economic projects that would relieve the daily and living pressure on the citizens."[/size]
[size=45]And Majeed said, "Despite the improvement in oil prices and the payment of debts incurred by Iraq, the government did not go towards reforms and implementation of projects approved by the budget."[/size]
[size=45]Former MP Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, in a tweet to him on Twitter, said that "with the end of the fiscal year, the exchange rate did not exceed 40% of the investment budget, which is concerned with services, construction and job opportunities." Al-Sudani added, "This means the failure of the ministries and governorates to spend their budgets."[/size]
[size=45]On Saturday (June 19, 2021), Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi announced new housing projects in Baghdad and the provinces.[/size]
[size=45]On Friday (November 12, 2021), the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, Hamid Al-Ghazi, directed all government institutions to work in an integrated manner between the various institutions, to ensure the success of the service file, including the Baghdad Capital Forest project.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Ghazi said, according to a statement by the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, that “the completion of the (Baghdad Forest) project is one of the important tourism and entertainment projects,” stressing that “Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, stressed the interest in the project, as it represents an outlet for the residents of the capital to move away from the routine of life, especially With a few parks and gardens in Baghdad.”[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that the Mayor of Baghdad, Alaa Maan, announced on Monday (June 14, 2021), a package of projects for the reconstruction of the capital.[/size]
[size=45]Maan said, "The Municipality of Baghdad has prepared a broad plan under the guidance and direct supervision and continuous follow-up by Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, which included many axes to develop the urban landscape and infrastructure of the city of Baghdad, which has suffered greatly in the past period," noting that "the plan includes projects to clean and remove dust from the city through Street and residential development.[/size]
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