Corruption at Najaf Airport.. has no authority and its revenues are unknown

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[size=52]Corruption at Najaf Airport.. has no authority and its revenues are unknown[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad / Adnan Al Fawadi[/size]
[size=45]The statements of the head of the Civil Aviation Authority, Imad al-Asadi, caused him not to know the ownership of Najaf Airport and where its revenues go, because its construction has cost the state treasury millions of dollars.[/size]
[size=45](Hazem Al-Haidari), a former official in the local administration in the governorate and head of the committee supervising the airport, indicated through previous statements that “its implementation failed in 2005 and was referred to investment due to the lack of a law protecting the investor at the time, which prompted the local government to implement it directly depending on Regional development funds.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Haidari added that «the cost of its construction in the first phase amounted to 75 million dollars», noting that «the airport was opened in July of 2008, and in November of the same year, and it obtained the international license to be ready to receive international flights of Boeing (737) aircraft of all kinds, In addition to small planes.[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that the airport was established on a former military air base, and the average daily trips to and from the airport are about (20) trips, and the times of visits are doubled to reach (60) trips per day, while accommodating more than (14) planes after expanding its area.[/size]
[size=45]A former member of the Najaf Governorate Council, Saad Al-Haris, revealed that “the airport runway was allocated an amount of $72 million, while the assets, works, and wages totaled only $22 million.” Millions of dollars, while the value of completing the project after completion and receipt does not exceed 35 million dollars.[/size]
[size=45]In October 2021, the Integrity Commission revealed that the Federal Court of Cassation had approved the ruling issued against the former vice-chairman of the Najaf Airport Board of Directors in a case of money inflation and a large illegal gain in the convict’s money at the expense of public money resulting from receiving bribes from companies and investors from while abusing his position.[/size]
[size=45]The court pointed to the book of the Prevention Department in the Commission, which diagnosed the large inflation that occurred in the convict’s funds, represented by the purchase of a residential house in the presidential square in the Jadiriyah region (the capital, Baghdad) at an amount of one million dollars, and the purchase of a residential house in the holy city of Najaf, and the establishment of a (mall) with a company at a cost 5 billion dinars, in addition to owning shares in several companies, and his refusal to submit a financial disclosure form from the year (2014-2020)”, while the penalty for the convict, according to a judicial decision, was what it called “severe imprisonment” for a period of two years? ; In accordance with the provisions of the Integrity Commission Law, with a fine of (700,000) US dollars, and one billion eight hundred million Iraqi dinars.[/size]
[size=45]And the former governor of Najaf, Louay Al-Yasiri, confirmed that “the airport’s revenues are about (70) billion dinars annually, in agreement with his opinion with the head of the Civil Aviation Authority, who explained that “no dinar of the revenues reached the local government for the purpose of contributing to the completion of other service projects, which were suspended due to financial hardship.”[/size]
[size=45]And she confirmed the repeated accusations against political parties and authorities of seizing and sharing the airport's revenues without giving the central government any sums of it, not even the sharing of airport workers and employees, whose number was estimated at about (500) employees, which was also limited to members of political currents and parties.[/size]
[size=45]The head of the Civil Aviation Authority, Imad al-Asadi, said, "Al-Najaf airport has no authority and we do not know its ownership," noting that "the federal airports are Baghdad, Basra, Mosul and Dhi Qar, which is under construction, but Kirkuk and Najaf airports are investment."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Asadi stressed that “Najaf Airport is not affiliated with us, and it is equivalent to Baghdad Airport in terms of visits and revenues, and we do not know where its revenues go,” adding, “However, the Najaf airport permit has problems because of the investing company that left work for unknown reasons.”[/size]
[size=45]The administration of Al-Najaf International Airport was quick to reveal the size of its revenues and the mechanism for its distribution, while expressing its willingness to receive government delegations to check the revenues.[/size]
[size=45]The director of the airport, Hekmat Ahmed, said in a statement followed by (Al-Mada), that "Al-Najaf International Airport has been an investment since its inception, and has been affiliated with the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers."[/size]
[size=45]He explained that "the airport's revenues come from renting planes, and paying tourism companies operating at the airport, as they are checked by specialized accountants, oversight and integrity, and then the money goes to an accredited bank in the airport's account." 67 million dollars, in addition to the payment of employee salaries and other needs, pointing out that “the airport has so far paid 20 million dollars of the value of accumulated debts,” pointing to “the airport’s readiness to receive any official government delegations to check the returns.”[/size]
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