1291 projects stuck in Iraq.. achievements on paper and ruins on the ground!

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[size=52]1291 projects stuck in Iraq.. achievements on paper and ruins on the ground![/size]

[size=45]Iraq faces major challenges in implementing its development and service projects, as government reports have shown that the number of stalled projects in the country has reached “1,291 projects” so far.[/size]
[size=45]These projects cover various vital sectors such as housing, infrastructure, electricity, health and education. The completion of these projects has been delayed for several reasons, ranging from financial and administrative corruption, lack of funding, and security and political tensions.[/size]
[size=45]According to data issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Planning, this procrastination has led to delays in providing basic services to citizens, and exacerbated crises in key areas, including electricity shortages and poor health and education services.[/size]
[size=45]It is worth noting that some projects were launched several years ago, but were not completed due to the cessation of funding or the inefficiency of the relevant departments.[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi government has affirmed on several occasions its commitment to addressing these challenges, noting that it has developed strategic plans to reactivate stalled projects and allocate additional budgets to complete the remaining work.[/size]
[size=45]Government Processors[/size]
[size=45]The spokesman for the Ministry of Planning, Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi, said, “The ministry’s efforts are continuing with the relevant authorities to address the problems of stalled projects in various sectors,” adding that “priority has been given to health sector projects and hospitals.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, “The reasons for stopping projects are different, but the most prominent is Resolution 347 of 2015, which decided to stop implementing projects due to the financial crisis that Iraq was going through.”
He explained, “The number of stalled projects is 1291 projects,” noting that “committees were formed to look into stalled projects.
” He continued, “There are many projects that will resume work after solutions are put in place.”[/size]
[size=45]Hesitation of previous governments[/size]
[size=45]For its part, the Parliamentary Services and Reconstruction Committee counted the number of stalled projects in Iraq, and confirmed that their number exceeds 1,600 projects in Baghdad and the governorates, with the exception of the Kurdistan Region.[/size]
[size=45]The deputy chairman of the committee, Baqir Al-Saadi, says, “The number of stalled projects in Baghdad and the governorates has reached more than 1,600 projects,” noting that “the implementation of these projects was delayed during previous governments,” indicating that “the completion rates in them are only 30-35%, and work on them has been halted since the era of Nouri Al-Maliki’s government.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Saadi revealed that “the current government has completed nearly 366 projects out of the projects that were suspended during the past year 2023,” noting that “work is still underway on 55% of the remaining projects, and it is hoped that many of them will be completed during the month of April.”[/size]
[size=45]Lack of legal oversight[/size]
[size=45]In this context, legal expert Tariq Al-Maamouri believes that “the lack of criminal penalties for delaying the implementation of projects is a major reason for the exacerbation of this problem.”
Al-Maamouri says that “the projects that the ministries of state refer to companies and contractors are regulated by contracts governed by civil laws, not criminal laws.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, "In the event of delays in projects, the contracting party in the state has the right to file a lawsuit against the companies and contractors, requesting the termination of the contract and compensation, based on the provisions of Article (177) of the Iraqi Civil Code."[/size]
[size=45]He points out that “the rulings that may be issued in such cases are the confiscation of the performance bond, which amounts to only 5% of the contract value, without there being any penalties in the criminal sense, such as imprisonment and jail, since procrastination is classified in the law as civil negligence, and is not considered a crime.”[/size]
[size=45]Lack of planning[/size]
[size=45]Economic expert Mustafa Akram Hantoush explains that the most prominent reasons for the delay in projects are due to the lack of planning, poor management, and corruption in the referral of projects.[/size]
[size=45]He explains that “poor planning is represented by referring thousands of projects in one fiscal year, without regard to the possibility of sustaining and continuing implementation in subsequent years, which was the reason for stopping many projects, due to declining revenues and the decrease in the value of financial budgets.”[/size]
[size=45]Hantoush confirms that “investment projects are the most affected by the decline in financial revenues, which was evident in the ISIS crisis, the liberation operations that coincided with the global financial crisis, as well as the Corona crisis, which caused the suspension of more than 90 percent of projects.”[/size]
[size=45]“The suspension of these projects has caused the state budget huge losses estimated at billions of dollars, in addition to the decline in services it has caused,” he continues.
Regarding addressing this phenomenon, Hantoush points out “the importance of taking into account the priority in referring and implementing projects, and creating a development fund that can be used to finance projects in the event of a decline in revenues, and distributing them over the completion period, in a way that ensures the continuity of work and avoids delays in implementation.”[/size]
[size=45]Paper achievements[/size]
[size=45]In addition, former head of the Integrity Commission, Judge Musa Faraj, doubts the figures issued regarding the number of stalled projects and the amount of financial losses incurred by Iraq as a result.
Faraj says, “Reports issued by Parliament and the Integrity Commission indicate the existence of more than 6,000 fictitious and stalled projects, most of which were only implemented on paper, while the other large portion of them did not exceed completion rates of between 10-30%.
He explains, “Most of the fictitious and stalled projects were referred after 2004 and up until 2014, meaning that the largest number of them were referred during the governments of Nouri al-Maliki (2006-2014).”[/size]
[size=45]Billion dollar losses[/size]
[size=45]The former head of the Integrity Commission points out that “official figures issued by the Integrity Commission, the Investment Commission, and the Finance Committee in the Iraqi Parliament speak of financial losses amounting to 300 billion dollars due to stalled and fictitious projects since 2003 until now,” indicating that “corruption in ministries and state institutions, and the crooked methods of referring projects and restricting the implementation of projects to specific companies are the reason for the existence of fictitious and stalled projects.”[/size]
[size=45]The federal budget allocated about 47 trillion dinars for investment projects, while the Ministry of Planning confirms that stalled projects need about 12 billion dollars (more than 16 trillion dinars) to complete. The number of stalled companies in the service sectors is 100 companies, according to statistics from the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Public Municipalities at the beginning of this year.[/size]
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