An American report: an ill-conceived urban campaign in Baghdad by bulldozing green spaces

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[size=52]An American report: an ill-conceived urban campaign in Baghdad by bulldozing green spaces[/size]

[size=45]Translated by: Hamed Ahmed[/size]
[size=45]An American report stated that Baghdad is witnessing an ill-considered urbanization campaign, pointing out that investment in real estate has become a tool for money laundering. A report by the American newspaper (The New York Times), translated by (Al-Mada), stated, “Along the highway of the Dora region south of Baghdad, the amputated trunks of palm trees are diagnosed in front of the eyes through the sandy land, as if they were fingertips protruding from a grave. Great as a result of an expanding urban boom in the capital.[/size]
[size=45]The report added, "Many of Baghdad's gardens and orchards have been sacrificed to an ill-conceived urban campaign over the past ten years, as a result of which the green spaces that were contributing to mitigating the air temperature have shrunk."[/size]
[size=45]He referred to "a reconstruction movement, legal and illegal, escalating in Baghdad amid a severe housing crisis, and what Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani described as a money laundering operation that is harnessed in huge real estate investments."[/size]
[size=45]"We are losing Baghdad's pulsating lung day after day," said Maryam Faisal, a lecturer at Al-Farabi University in Baghdad.[/size]
[size=45]Faisal added, "The green area in the capital has shrunk over the past two decades, from 12% to more than 28%."[/size]
[size=45]The report stated that "shaded areas in Baghdad are five times cooler than other areas without trees."[/size]
[size=45]And he stated, “The cement and metal roofs that are without trees and plants absorb heat and then radiate it again, forming what is known as the heat of residential islands.”[/size]
[size=45]The report notes that “with its declining water levels, widespread desertification and rapid increase in its population, Iraq is considered one of the countries most vulnerable to the consequences of climate change in the world. But according to environmental specialists, successive governments have largely ignored this worsening crisis.[/size]
[size=45]“The loss of green space has worsened since 2003,” says Mahmoud Aziz, director of planning in the Baghdad municipality, referring to “the weakness of the Iraqi state and weak control measures.”[/size]
[size=45]And the report returns, to confirm; “In a city where summer temperatures exceed 50 degrees Celsius, this extreme heat combined with increased air pollution poses a health risk to the poor who do not have access to air conditioning, and the people most vulnerable to these risks are the elderly, children and the sick.”[/size]
[size=45]And he goes on, “During the past two decades, the temperature rise in the Arab Gulf countries, including Iraq, was twice as fast as the rest of the world, as the temperatures there during summer days reached an almost unbearable stage.”[/size]
[size=45]A previous report by The New York Times had revealed that workers working under the sun in Basra "are vulnerable to heatstroke and heart and kidney disease problems caused by high temperatures."[/size]
[size=45]The report stated, “The rise in temperatures and periodic power outages also contribute to the increase in the use of fuel-powered generators to operate air conditioners for those who can afford to pay high sums, which also contribute to an increase in polluting gas emissions.”[/size]
[size=45]And he added, "While some of the dredging operations are clearly illegal or linked to a development process within manipulated building permits, major projects have worked to bulldoze thousands of hectares of orchards and palm tree groves, which are being implemented with the approval of local government authorities."[/size]
[size=45]The Director of the United Nations Office, “Habitat”, for the human settlements program in Iraq concerned with sustainable urban development, Anna Sofa, said that “part of the phenomenon of shrinking green space is due to the investment law that was legislated in 2006, which encourages the expropriation of land from the government to build on it a marketing complex and complexes.” residential.”[/size]
[size=45]And Suva added, "The parks and gardens that have been built are limited to residents who pay a fee to enter them."[/size]
[size=45]The report indicated that “the Dora area used to be an area of ​​a mixed industrial, residential nature, agricultural lands and orchards, where green spaces and palm groves cover large areas of it.”[/size]
[size=45]And he stressed, "Inspectors from the municipality periodically check reports they receive about illegal acts of damaging palm trees, often by pouring oil on the roots of trees that lead to their death so that the owners can carry out construction work on the land."[/size]
[size=45]The report added, however, that “the municipality patrol concerned with trees, which even when it is strongly supported by the Ministry of the Interior, is unable to keep up with the wave of the crazy urban movement that swept away gardens and orchards.”[/size]
[size=45]The director of Baghdad municipal planning goes back to saying, “In the Dora area, for example, we go in the morning and see trees that have been cut down at night.[/size]
[size=45]The report talked about the possibility of “razing a section of the orchards in the Dora region for the purpose of building what is believed to be the largest supermarket complex (mall) in the Middle East, on an area of ​​​​approximately 1 million and 828 thousand square meters, which includes international brands, cinemas and dancing fountains.”[/size]
[size=45]One of the contributors to the project, Ghaith Qassem, confirms obtaining a permit from the Baghdad Investment Commission to build on land that was owned by the state.[/size]
[size=45]Qasim continued, "The agricultural lands are now dead, and the population density now in Baghdad is very high."[/size]
[size=45]Qassem pointed out that “Baghdad is in a state of expansion, with many agricultural lands being converted into residential or commercial lands.”[/size]
[size=45]And the report went on, that "officials in the Iraqi government and in local governments confirmed that investment in the field of real estate in Baghdad has become a popular tool for money laundering operations in Iraq."[/size]
[size=45]About: The New York Times[/size]
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