Officials and activists call for allocating petro dollars to finance major strategic projects

[size=52]Officials and activists call for allocating petro dollars to finance major strategic projects[/size]

[size=45]Dhi Qar / Hussein Al-Amil[/size]
[size=45]Officials and activists in Dhi Qar province called for allocating petro-dollar funds to finance large strategic projects instead of small ones.[/size]
[size=45]The participants in the symposium on the transparency of social benefits and petro-dollar allocations, which was held by the Tamkeen Center for Participation and Equality at the Sumerion Hall in Nasiriyah, and was attended by the assistant governor of Dhi Qar for administrative affairs, Faisal Al-Sharifi, the governor’s advisor for citizens’ affairs, Haider Saadi, representatives of the Dhi Qar Oil Company, activists and media professionals interested in the oil sector. Oil-financed petrodollars and social benefits need more transparency and planning in the field of distributing oil resources for the governorates,” stressing “the importance of forming joint committees from the local government and the departments of the Ministry of Oil for the purpose of setting project priorities.”[/size]
[size=45]The participants in the symposium stressed “the need to stay away from intersections between local governments and oil companies, and that there should be integration between all parties, while activating the supervisory role of civil society organizations on government performance in the oil sector,” noting that “petro dollar oil revenues still go to small projects. and unimportant.” Petrodollar allocations are calculated by approving 5% of the revenues of the crude oil produced in the governorate, or 5% of the revenues of refined crude oil in the governorate’s refineries, or 5% of the revenues of natural gas produced in the concerned governorate, while social expenditures are from contributions made by international oil companies operating In the extractive industries to the public, specifically in the areas surrounding the oil fields, which are negatively affected by the activities of the extractive sector. These contributions are made with the aim of improving the standard of living and the economic and social well-being of the affected areas.[/size]
[size=45]The participants in the symposium called for “adopting a strategic plan to establish large projects, such as a medical city, specialized centers, or tourist and cultural facilities in the areas affected by the oil industries or the neighboring areas.”[/size]
[size=45]The participants indicated that “oil companies are still operating in an unsafe environment and conditions, as they are often subject to the pressures of clans, local residents and the unemployed,” stressing that “the work environment is still unstable and requires more cooperation between all governmental and societal parties.”[/size]
[size=45]For his part, the Assistant Governor of Dhi Qar for Administrative Affairs, Faisal Al-Sharifi, indicated that “the work between government departments operating in the governorate should be complementary,” noting that “the mechanism for spending social benefits funds by the Dhi Qar Oil Company is still unclear.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sharifi added, during the seminar, which was attended by (Al-Mada), that "the local government has received, over the past years, 43 billion dinars of petro-dollar allocations, and allocated it to establish two vital projects, including the Nasiriyah-Jbayish road."[/size]
[size=45]While the researcher at the Falah Nuri Empowerment Center indicated that “the total financial allocations launched by the federal government from the petro-dollar money to the oil governorates constitute only 26 percent, and this is a legal violation,” and he asked, “Are the social benefits funds obtained by the governorates equivalent to the damage inflicted on the regions?” oil?”[/size]
[size=45]Nuri stressed the importance of adhering to the governorates’ entitlement to oil resources and taking into account their need for projects that compensate them for the damages caused by the extractive industries, stressing “the necessity of activating the proposal to establish a special fund for petrodollars, provided that it adopts standards of transparency in money spending programs.”[/size]
[size=45]Nouri concluded by saying that “wealth and power when they are in one hand, corruption is rampant,” calling for the distribution of responsibilities and the activation of supervisory institutions to ensure the preservation of public money from the scourge of corruption.[/size]
[size=45]In turn, the head of the Social Benefits Committee in the Dhi Qar Oil Company, Ali Karim Al-Ramadani, revealed “a plan to demolish and rebuild 15 schools in the Al-Rifai district as part of the projects of the future social benefits plan,” noting that “40 of the schools of the aforementioned district, which includes the Al-Gharraf oil field, need to Maintenance and rehabilitation, and that there are 24,000 students without regular schools in the aforementioned district.[/size]
[size=45]During the symposium, Al-Ramadani indicated that “the local government from 2015 to 2020 determines the priorities of the projects to be implemented from the funds of social benefits,” noting that “the local council in the judiciary submits a request for the required projects to the governorate administration, and the latter, in turn, submits them to the Dhi Qar Oil Company.” to take the required action.”[/size]
[size=45]The symposium organized by Tamkeen Center on the transparency of social benefits and petro-dollar allocations is the second in less than a month. The participants in the first symposium held on November 19, 2021 called for the adoption of transparency and the priorities of residential areas in spending the allocations of social benefits and petrodollars. They pointed to a suspicious ambiguity in the spending of the aforementioned funds. They revealed that a large part of the spending process was subject to the dominance of clans and influential parties.[/size]
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