KIRKUK – Kirkuk’s provincial council will not be dedicating any portion of its reconstruction budget to 13 “illegal” Kurdish-majority neighborhoods, a gubernatorial staff member told Rudaw on Monday, causing outcry among Kurdish residents and officials alike who claim sustained ethnic discrimination.
Reconstruction projects cannot take place in “illegal” neighborhoods, for fear of potential prosecution, said one of acting Kirkuk governor Rakan Jabouri’s staff members.
“The illegal neighborhoods are excluded from the design of the city. Services were provided to these areas in the past, but there is now serious scrutiny, so local offices fear breaking these measures,” Ali Hamadim, assistant to the governor, told Rudaw.
A contentious $361 million budget to undertake much needed service projects in Kirkuk was passed by the provincial council on June 11 with the support of Arab and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) council members.
The neighborhoods are said to be illegal because they were built without governmental authorization – but other such neighborhoods without Kurdish majorities are said to be being granted access to funds.
Kurds make up the majority of Panja Ali, one of the 13 neighborhoods being excluded from funding.
“Why was budget provided for all of Kirkuk in 2019 except for Kurdish neighborhoods? They are regarded as ‘illegal’ while some other illegal places are included for services,” Kamal Askar, a resident of Panja Ali asked.
Panja Ali’s residents have complained of exceptionally erratic water and electricity supplies for the last five years, forcing many residents to sell their houses and leave.
Jabouri has routinely been accused of widespread discrimination against Kurds in land disputes, employment and in the provision of basic services.
The Brotherhood bloc of Kurdish politicians own most of the seats of the provincial council. The bloc is comprised of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), PUK and Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) councilors.
KDP members have not returned to Kirkuk since it fell to Iraqi forces in October 2017, refusing to participate in the politics of an “occupied city.”
Of the 106 billion dinars ($89.1 million) allocated to Kirkuk neighborhood reconstruction in last week’s budget, only 11 billion had been allocated to Kurdish areas.
Brotherhood bloc member Ahmed Askari, from the PUK, said Jabouri had given his word that reconstruction projects would be taking place in Kurdish neighborhoods.
“There is no obstacle to prevent them from receiving services because this is the decision of Kirkuk provincial council for the last year and we have made the local government abide by the previous decisions,” Askari told Rudaw.
The first phase of the project, worth $62 million, is due to begin next week.
Askari has warned that the governor may be sued if these neighborhoods are in fact deprived of services.
“We will lodge lawsuits in courts and not approve these projects,” Askari said.
Kirkuk is a disputed territory claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad. Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution was supposed to have resolved the issue of disputed territories by 2007, but little progress has been made in the implementation of the article which calls for a census and referendum in these areas to establish the will of the people.
Throughout the Islamic State (ISIS) conflict, Kirkuk had been under the administration of Kurdish security forces, including the Peshmerga, and Governor Najmaldin Karim, a Kurd.
But following the participation of Kirkuk and other Kurdish areas in the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum of 2017, the city was retaken by federal troops. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi recommended parliament sack Karim and replace him with Jabouri.
Reporting by Hiwa Husamaddin
