Since Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced the implementation of projects, including plans to relieve traffic congestion in the capital, Baghdad, the construction, building of bridges and overpasses, and widening of streets have been marred by many shortcomings and errors, which led to some of them being repaired shortly after their opening, or details being added to them, which raised several questions about the priority of speed of completion at the expense of quality.

However, observers considered the matter, despite that, a step forward in the reconstruction process. Regarding these errors, economic researcher Mustafa Akram Hantoush points out that “the occurrence of some errors does not affect the good service construction and development movement of Baghdad Governorate, and if errors occur, they can be addressed and what the government has done regarding the bridges issue can be considered an achievement because if it were not for the current trend, the Baghdad Municipality would not have built any of these bridges.”

Hantoush believes that “the Iraqi government is very good with regard to bridges and some issues related to infrastructure. In fact, we have never seen anything similar from previous governments. The Baghdad Municipality often received money to transfer it to replacing sidewalks on an ongoing basis, so no bridges or gates were built.”

It is noteworthy that the Prime Minister announced at the beginning of 2023 the commencement of a package of projects, starting with supplying residential areas on the outskirts of Baghdad and slums with infrastructure, including sewage, water, electricity and road paving networks, while launching a plan to relieve traffic congestion, which includes the construction of a number of bridges and overpasses and the expansion of many streets.

For his part, political analyst Hassan Fadel says, “Some of the failures that occur in completing the projects implemented by Al-Sudani’s government are not directly borne by the government, nor by Mr. Al-Sudani himself, but rather are primarily borne by the Ministry of Construction and Housing, because it is necessary to evaluate the companies implementing the project according to standards set by the ministry before approving the bids of the implementing companies.”

“Among these criteria, this company must have implemented similar projects and possess the capabilities, tools, experts and engineers.

 This means that the company submitting the bid has previous experience in similar projects, is it a company that has been working in this field for years, does it have sufficient experience or is it a new company, and what is the nationality of this company?        These criteria and others must be taken into consideration to avoid these mistakes in the future,” Fadel added.

“The Prime Minister is trying to fix what was spoiled by years of government failures, but all the projects undertaken by the current government fall within its duties and cannot be considered achievements, because the achievement is the realization of huge strategic goals such as the development road and the Grand Faw Port, which can be classified among the huge strategic achievements and projects if they are completed,” he added.

“As for building bridges and factories, these are routine procedures that every government in the world undertakes, and they cannot be classified as achievements. Rather, building bridges and overpasses is the duty of the Baghdad Municipality and the Ministry of Reconstruction and is within their powers, and sometimes there may be a simple intervention from the Prime Minister, not a large-scale intervention,” he added,

“but because of the situation in Iraq and the nature of the circumstances it has suffered, the government was forced to intervene in such small projects that are of lower responsibilities in order to speed up completion and achieve a solution to the problem of traffic congestion and bottlenecks, and therefore these projects are not considered achievements.”

The General Traffic Directorate had previously announced the closure of the Cordoba Bridge in central Baghdad for maintenance purposes, four months after its opening, in addition to the completion of the Rustumiyah Bridge in Baghdad without channels to drain rainwater.

The Federal Integrity Commission had previously announced the failure of most of the electronic gates in parking garages in Baghdad and the governorates, after costing the state about eight and a half billion dinars.

Regarding the malfunction of these electronic gates, legal expert Adnan Al-Sharifi comments, “What is related to the malfunction of the electronic gates is either due to poor equipment or exposure to electronic hacking or sabotage by an agent.

 If it is a sudden malfunction, this is a normal thing that may happen anywhere, provided that the materials of these gates are equipped and implemented according to good controls, contracts and specifications. However, if it is due to an agent, the investigation will reveal his identity and he will be referred to the competent authorities.”

He continued, “As for the poor quality of the projects, it is divided into two parts. The first is the poor quality of the plans, quantity schedules, and engineering specifications, which is the responsibility of the party that carried them out.

The second is the poor quality of the implementation, which is due to the collusion of the resident engineer, the supervisory authorities, and the receiving committees. All of these bear full responsibility for the intentional damages and will be held accountable in accordance with Articles 341 and 340 of the Penal Code, and as the results of the investigation show.” https://non14.net/public/168799

Alsumaria Publishes The Dollar Exchange Rates In The Iraqi Stock Exchanges Today

 Economy  Alsumaria News publishes the exchange rates of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar in the local Iraqi markets for Tuesday, July 30, 2024.

The dollar prices decreased with the opening of the Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya stock exchanges, recording 149,000 dinars for every 100 dollars. As for the selling prices in the exchange shops in the local markets in Baghdad, they decreased, as the selling price reached 150,000 dinars, while the purchase price reached 148,000 dinars for every 100 dollars.

On February 7, 2022, the Council of Ministers  announced its approval to amend the dollar exchange rate to 1,320 dinars per dollar.

For about a year, specifically since the Central Bank began operating the electronic platform and the international financial transfer system “SWIFT”, the dollar exchange rate in Iraq has not witnessed stability despite the government and the Central Bank’s attempts to control the exchange rate in parallel markets.   LINK

Al-Sadr Calls For Boycotting American Products And Those Supporting The Israeli Entity: Peacefully, Not Through Violence

 The leader of the Shiite National Movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, called today, Monday, for boycotting American products and goods that support the Israeli entity, while stressing the need not to use violence as some parties that want to destroy Iraq are doing.

In response to a question directed to the leader of the Shiite National Movement, which read: “What is your advice to all Muslims and Iraqis in particular regarding boycotting American goods and goods that support the usurping Zionist entity, in support of the people of Gaza in particular and Islam and humanity in general?”

Al-Sadr said the following text: “Yes, all believers in the Palestinian cause, all lovers of humanity, and all those who reject the mass massacres taking place in Gaza, and all those who reject the terrorist Zionist entity, its actions, crimes, and terrorism, and its master, America, the great evil occupier who hates peoples, should boycott all products that support Israel, America, colonialism, and the unjust global arrogance that is trying to make the world a village in its hands like a toy…

Boycotting them inside and outside Iraq is an act that pleases God Almighty and even pleases our consciences as Muslims and lovers of humanity and peace…

All of this is done through a peaceful boycott by not selling, not buying, or even using them… and not using violence as some parties do that want to destroy our beloved Iraq and benefit personally and partisanly from that in: #We are all boycotting.”   https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=252290

Government Advisor: Adopting Budget Schedules Has Become A Reality And Does Not Affect Financial Obligations

Money  and business  Economy News – Baghdad  The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed today, Tuesday, that the budget schedules have become a reality, and issuing instructions is a procedural matter that does not affect financial obligations.

Saleh said, in an interview with the Iraqi News Agency, followed by “Al-Eqtisad News”, that “the legal basis for the current fiscal year 2024 is a matter that has been legislated and approved primarily, based on the provisions of the federal general budget for the years 2023, 2025, 2024 issued by Law No. 13 of 2023, which was published on June 26, 2023 in the Official Gazette.”

He explained that “what is stipulated in Article Two / 77 of the law includes the executive authority submitting the financial tables for the two fiscal years 2024, 2025 to enable the House of Representatives to approve them sequentially,” noting that “this was achieved in the fiscal year 2024.”

He pointed out that “the three-year federal general budget was applied for the first time in the country, which was based in its approval on one of the articles included in the provisions of the Federal Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019, as amended, which authorized the work of a financial plan consisting of a general budget for three fiscal years.”

He added that “the legal options available to implement the provisions of the federal general budget have become more flexible for the federal financial authority, in addition to the availability of the federal financial management law itself, which allows financial transactions even if any approval of the general budget formalities is delayed in principle, especially allowing continued spending or disbursement on investment projects approved in the three-year general budget as ongoing projects, as well as operational spending, or any financial transactions stipulated in the three-year general budget law.”

He added, “Despite this, the adoption of the financial tables for the current fiscal year 2024, which were approved by the House of Representatives earlier this year, has become a reality, and issuing instructions for their implementation is a procedural matter that does not affect the obligations of the fiscal year itself, as these instructions are in all cases consistent with the emerging financial transactions when issued.”

He added that “the Ministry of Finance announced earlier this month the issuance of financial bonds (achievement bond) as a source of financing for the budget by borrowing from the local financial market worth 1.5 trillion dinars,”

stressing that “spending on operating expenses such as salaries, pensions, social care, debt services, and others is ongoing, in addition to the continued financing of ongoing investment projects and those under implementation.”

He pointed out that “all of these activities are financial activities in which spending has not stopped, which is consistent with the legal work rules that came with the three-year federal general budget, with high flexibility, transparency, and governance.”

He noted that “the instructions for implementing the general budget schedules for the fiscal year 2024 will touch upon some of the developments and partial financial transactions that have been created or adapted, and not the faculties of public finance,

and that the financial activity in the country with its three pillars: revenues, expenditures, and deficit management is proceeding in a consistent and harmonious manner and in accordance with the objectives of the three-year general budget law, and that the executive and legislative authorities are in continuous communication and high coordination to ensure the achievement of public interests without interruption.” – https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=45743