Over 2,000 projects to resume in Erbil after halt due to financial crisis: Official

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s Council of Ministers has decided to provide a budget for all the projects in Erbil which were halted over the past few years due to the financial crisis, a Kurdish official said on Sunday.

“The Council of Ministers have decided to resume all the investment projects and provide a budget to those that have been paused due to the financial crisis,” Kanaan Khailani, a member of Erbil Provincial Council, told the local news website of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

“There is also a timeline set for those projects to be completed.”

Since 2014, the fight against the Islamic State and the financial crisis that crippled the Kurdistan Region’s economy halted many business and construction projects in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

“In Erbil alone, over 2,000 projects on hold will resume soon,” Khailani said.

“A significant business movement has begun in Erbil, and the Kurdistan Region Council of Ministers’ current budget decision will boost the Region’s business in general and restore the economy to the previous level.”

The Kurdish official also revealed plans for the building of a complex in the city to bring all the foreign consulates and representative offices in the Kurdistan Region to one location. However, he said some foreign diplomats prefer to choose the location of their offices themselves.

Khailani noted that finishing the Erbil – Shaqlawa tunnel is also one of the projects. The tunnel will decrease traffic and shorten the destinations between the capital of the Kurdistan Region and other cities in the province of Erbil, he said.

Erbil Governor Nawzad Hadi told reporters earlier that one of the projects is the installation of the fourth drinking water pipeline in Erbil which would resolve the water shortage in some districts, namely in the Kasnazan areas.

The spokesperson for the Presidency of Erbil Municipality, Kirmanj Dashtaki, recently revealed preparations for the beginning of the construction of the sixth ring road surrounding Erbil, known as 150 Meter Road, which will start in 2019.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany