Environment

PM Barzani allocates 6 billion Iraqi dinars for cleaning, waste management in Duhok

He suggested a ban on plastics in the autonomous region. “Or you can recycle things, and I think the young people should take a lead on this,” he said.

Kurdistan 24 2022/04/07 14:41

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani at the World Energy Forum in Dubai. (Photo: KRG)

Kurdistan Masrour Barzani PM

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has set aside a budget of nearly six billion Iraqi dinars (almost $4 million) to the Duhok governorate for cleaning and waste management in the province.

A total of 5,874,372,000 dinars will be spent on cleaning the governorate and more effectively managing its waste, according to a statement from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Municipality and Tourism on Thursday.

The decision is part of the KRG’s ninth cabinet’s support for the Kurdistan Region’s provinces and independent administrations, according to the statement.

Many tourist and other public sites in the Kurdistan Region are often badly littered, especially after large gatherings and picnics. Ambassador Mark G. Hambley, the former US Special Representative to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development and Special Negotiator on Climate Change, lamented this in November.

“The littering in this beautiful country is appalling,” he said. “People should take more responsibility for making this place clean.”

He suggested a ban on plastics in the autonomous region. “Or you can recycle things, and I think the young people should take a lead on this,” he said.

In 2021, the Kurdistan Region’s municipality authorities collected more than 600,000 tons of litter in public places in the capital Erbil and were “treated” at the Kani Qirzhala landfill.

At the 2021 MERI forum late last October, Prime Minister Barzani said that citizens and individuals are responsible for keeping the Kurdistan Region’s environment clean.

“We cannot only rely on some companies to come and collect our waste,” he said. “We should know how to keep our air, land, and water clean and I’m asking all of the citizens of Kurdistan to respect the environment.”