Saturday AM Iraq Economic News Highlights 10-8-22

Saturday AM Iraq Economic News Highlights 10-8-22

Saleh Calls For The Formation Of A Government With Full Powers To Approve The Stalled Budget And Manage The Next Stage

Political | 04:56 - 07/10/2022   Baghdad - Mawazine News

The President of the Republic, Barham Salih, called today, Friday, to hold a serious dialogue in which the main forces participate, while warning that corruption fuels divisions and threatens societal peace.

President Saleh said in his speech during his attendance at the celebration of the Prophet’s birthday in the city of Adhamiya in Baghdad, followed by Mawazine News: “On this anniversary, we must recall the eloquent lessons of tolerance and coexistence from the biography of our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who built a state on human foundations, calling for truth, justice and mercy. and declination to peace.

He added, "Al-Adhamiya and Al-Kadhimiya, the twins of Baghdad, are inseparable and inseparable, and they had a prominent role in burying sedition, and they are truly a symbol of unity and cohesion among Iraqis."

He pointed out that "attempts by terrorist groups failed to justify their actions with the true Islamic religion, and those who wanted to charge Muslims with terrorism and extremism were disappointed."

He pointed out that "our country is experiencing a critical moment that puts it at a crossroads, either to go back to internal conflicts and line-ups, or to launch with a unified will that accommodates the grave challenges and meets the needs of citizens."

He continued, "The permanent absence of stability exhausts our country and our people, and opens the door to foreign interventions that have made the country a field and fuel for the struggles of others on its land with the money and lives of Iraqis," noting that "it is no longer acceptable to continue the status quo, the formation of governments is taking longer, and constitutional provisions are more disruptive, The living conditions and services are worse, and we cannot bet on the patience of the Iraqis more.”

He pointed out that "a whole year has passed since the elections were held without completing their constitutional entitlements, which is not acceptable at all." And the management of the next stage.”

President Saleh stressed: “The first reform is to fight corruption, this dangerous scourge that eats away at the body of the state and threatens its entity, and prevents our youth from a fair opportunity to contribute to building their country. Feeding divisions and threatening societal peace,” he said, noting that “Iraq’s geographical location in the heart of the region must be a bridge of communication and an economic, commercial and cultural center, not a hub and arena for the struggles of others.”

President Salih concluded that "the Iraqis insist on a homeland that has complete sovereignty, lives in security with its people and with its neighbors, and takes its civilized position in the region and the world." End 29    https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=207582

In The Absence Of The Budget To Restore It And With The High Real Estate Prices

Posted On2022-10-08 By Sotaliraq    Ancient houses in Baghdad are crumbling: “Beware, the danger of collapse”     Decades of political turmoil and neglect have cast a shadow over buildings that are part of the city's architectural past. Reuters

A Baghdad – Reuters Date: October 08 2022   A 100-year-old Iraqi palace overlooking the Tigris River in Baghdad stands in a state of disrepair. A sign near the door warns visitors, who hope to catch a glimpse of its fading glory, that reads, "Beware, danger of collapse."

The 16-room building once featured braided windows, delicate carvings, a balcony, and an inner courtyard filled with fruit trees.

Now, like many of Baghdad's 2,500 remaining historic homes, it is falling apart. Decades of political turmoil, neglect, rising property prices and a lack of money have cast a shadow over the buildings that are part of the city's architectural past.

One of the most important remaining heritage houses is a large house dating back to the 1920s," said Zikra Sarsam, a founding member of the Babel Tower Initiative, which works to preserve the cultural heritage of the Iraqi capital. It is an old Baghdadi style, with an inner courtyard and a skylight, and the upper floor is built of wood, many of its parts have fallen.”

Fayez Faleh al-Qasd, one of the owners of the house and a civil engineer and consultant, said the house, which was built nearly a century ago, has been in disrepair for years.

He added that the area where the house is located was chosen to be the site of an opera house during the era of former President Saddam Hussein until 2015. No renovations to the house were allowed at that time, but the opera house was never built.

He added from his home in neighboring Jordan, where he kept old pieces of furniture recovered from the house in Baghdad, that it is now too late to renovate.

He stated, "At the present time, it is clear that it has become corroded ... by 1920, especially within 100 years, and what has become of maintenance, all iron has corroded."

He added, "It represents a sweet memory, but with the passage of time, you learned that the house is falling due to the erosion of wood and corroded iron. Unfortunately, any restoration case will bring down the house."

From her home next door to the historic Al Qasd House, Sarsam is working to raise awareness of the need to preserve Old Baghdad.

Owners of listed buildings are not allowed to demolish them. The government can provide loans or grants for renewals if necessary. But Sarsam said the government is not currently complying with this.

And she added, “The ministry does not implement the law in all its clauses by paying home owners so that they can rehabilitate and preserve them.” These houses and the claim that they fell from themselves without interference due to the circumstances of time and age.”

Muhammad al-Rubaie, head of media and public relations in the Baghdad municipality, said that there is no budget allocated to support the owners, expressing his regret for that.

Al-Rubaie added that to circumvent the ban on demolishing listed buildings, their owners sometimes flood them with water or set them on fire.

He stated that the motive is clear, which is to profit from selling the land in order to build buildings on it in light of the high real estate prices in Baghdad.

With the help of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the government last year renovated Al-Mutanabbi Street, a Baghdad landmark teeming with booksellers and artists. But the nearby residential alleys are full of dilapidated houses and shanasheel (mashrabiyas), traditional balconies decorated with woodwork.

The relative stability that Baghdad witnessed in recent years and the recovery of oil prices after the outbreak of the “Covid-19” pandemic in 2020 were positive factors for the city’s real estate market. Sarsam sometimes receives phone calls from neighbors worried about a possible demolition of the house, causing them to rush to the site.

As she walked past the ruins of a 1930s palace on Baghdad's Abu Nuwas Street, which runs along the eastern bank of the Tigris River, Sarsam pointed to the effects of a fire staining its crumbling interior walls.

She said, "It is clear that he is exposed to fire, because they called us, and they said in flashing in this house, what has fallen from himself is certain in the process of flashing." She contacted the authorities who prevented the demolition and cordoned off the palace, but his fate remains a mystery.

And she continued, "A few of these houses have columns and certain inscriptions that are classified as first-class in terms of heritage houses, so this constitutes a great loss for sure for future generations who will come to meet their city devoid of any teacher who classifies its identity and documents its history."

Some homeowners burn or demolish them to take advantage of the big profits if they sell the land.  LINK

Parliamentary Finance: There Is No Fear And Concern Over The Allocations Of Any Category Of Contract Holders

Iraq   11:47 - 08-10-2022   Today, Saturday, the Parliamentary Finance Committee reassured the allocations of contract holders in the absence of the financial budget and in the event of the expiration of the emergency support law for food security and development.

Committee member Jamal Cougar said that "the file of the lecturers and those covered by Resolution 315 is related to what was mentioned in the Emergency Support Law for Food Security and Development," stressing that "the Food Security Law is a legal cover."

Cougar added that "the lecturers and those covered by Resolution 315, since they have become part of the workforce in the Iraqi state, have become part of the operating budget, which is disbursed even if there is no budget."

He reassured by saying: "There is no fear and concern over the allocations of any category of contract holders, because they are part of the workforce in the Iraqi state."

https://kirkuktv.net/AR/Details/9526

Dollar Exchange Rates In Local Markets

Economie   2022-10-08 | 02:45   1,438 views  Alsumaria News – Economy   Alsumaria News publishes the exchange rates of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar in the Iraqi local markets for today, Saturday.

And the selling prices of the dollar were recorded at 147.950 dinars per 100 dollars, while the purchase prices of the dollar were recorded at 147.850 dinars per 100 dollars.   LINK

Prices Of "Yellow Metal" In The Iraqi Market

Economie  2022-10-08 | 02:59   1,288 views   Alsumaria News - Economy Alsumaria News  publishes, today, Saturday, gold prices in the local markets.

And gold prices witnessed a decline in the Iraqi markets.

The price of a 21-carat gold weight, the most traded, reached 348,345 dinars, excluding goldsmithing fees.  As for the price of a gold weight of 24 karat, it amounted to 398 thousand and 95 dinars, excluding the fees of the craftsman.   LINK

The Ministry Of Water Resources: The Abuses Hinder The Work Of The Dredging

Iraq  15:07 - 07-10-2022  Today, Friday, the Ministry of Water Resources confirmed that the violations, especially the throwing of waste and rubble in the river column, are hampering irrigation work in it.

The Assistant Director-General of River Irrigation Department in the Ministry, Mahmoud Abdullah, said, "The problem of abuses by throwing waste and rubble into the river column, which has become a dumping ground for waste and waste that hinders the work of irrigating, causes problems in operation because the dredging is a pump that absorbs and moves sediments and with the presence of Waste clogging occurs in the intake pipe, which leads to major interruptions in our work, and this is one of the important problems, and among the other problems is the transgression of the taboos of the river nature.”

Abdullah added that "dredging needs sedimentation basins in some places where there are violations. We cannot establish a sedimentation basin because some of the encroachments are on the river basin and through agricultural contracts owned by the citizen and hinder our work."

He added, "These problems are solved through the directorates of resources as they are responsible for the river. We are an executive body, and despite addressing this issue, it delays work, and the problem of basins also exists within cities.

The river is part of the river basin, which are the banks, and we build basins in which the quantities that are accumulated in the sedimentation basins, and we patch them according to the instructions and existing contexts, either supplying them to the state departments with the original approvals of the ministry exclusively, or selling them in public auctions to the private sector under the sale and rent of state funds, raising these quantities and emptying the basins It guarantees us the continuation of the Cree business.”    https://kirkuktv.net/AR/Details/9503

Parliamentary Finance: The Allocations For The Lecturers And Those Covered By Resolution 315 Are Continuing And Will Not Stop

political| 11:20 - 10/08/2022   Baghdad - Mawazine News   reassured the Parliamentary Finance Committee, on Saturday, about the allocations of contract holders in the absence of the financial budget and in the event of the expiry of the emergency support law for food security and development.

Committee member Jamal Cougar said, "The file of the lecturers and those covered by Resolution 315 is related to what was mentioned in the Emergency Support Law for Food Security and Development," stressing that "the Food Security Law is a legal cover," according to the official news agency.

Cougar added, "The lecturers and those covered by Resolution 315, since they have become part of the workforce in the Iraqi state, have become part of the operating budget, which is disbursed even if there is no budget."

He reassured by saying: "There is no fear and concern over the allocations of any category of contract holders, because they are part of the workforce in the Iraqi state." Ended 29/N33

https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=207641

Parliamentary Energy Reveals A Trend To Reduce Electricity Collection Fees

political| 10:42 - 10/08/2022   Baghdad - Mawazine News, a member of the Parliamentary Energy Committee in Radi revealed, today, Saturday, a tendency to reduce electricity collection fees and control losses.

Radi said in an interview with the official news agency, Mawazine News, that "there is a tendency of the Parliamentary Energy Committee to reduce electricity collection fees, the obligation to pay, and the regulated consumption with smart meters to control losses," noting that "the committee will also come out with an official opinion on the connection with Jordan and the Gulf." After its meeting scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday, and consulting the specialists in transport and distribution.

He added, "The meeting will also discuss the paragraphs of the Electricity Law and the possibility of making amendments to it in cooperation with the Ministry of Electricity and the Parliamentary Legal Committee," noting that "the current time is the most appropriate time to make amendments to some paragraphs to create positives that give the ministry powers and support that enables it to work with greater professionalism and freedom."   https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=207633