Newspapers issued in Baghdad today, Monday, June 3, focused on the Prime Minister’s follow-up of oil sector projects, measures to improve environmental conditions and other issues, including the decline in electricity supply and the increase in cut-off hours.
Al-Zawraa newspaper, which is published by the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, focused in Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani chairing the regular meeting to follow up on oil sector projects.
It said, quoting an official statement: ‘The meeting witnessed a review of the progress of work in the projects under completion, and the extent of its conformity with the previously prepared timetables. Financial allocations, financing, and completion rates were also discussed and compared with the planned rates, in addition to following up on integrated energy projects, and the most appropriate economic model for managing it and discussing projects to increase production for oil fields and follow up on gas projects.’
It referred to Al-Sudani’s statement, durin
g the meeting that Iraq relies on the ministry’s strategic projects, whether in bringing about development or achieving economic stability, directing the necessity of preparing studies that include an integrated economic vision for any project proposed for investment.
It also referred to the Prime Minister’s emphasis on the importance of progress in developing current refineries in order to secure the entire local consumption of petroleum products, and to achieve a proactive step represented in increasing the strategic storage of gasoline and providing it, by operating all the production refinery units for gasoline, stressing the progress of the electronic payment project at gas stations, and working to make it successful in cooperation with the Petroleum Products Distribution Company and Iraqi banks, through coordination with the Central Bank of Iraq.
Regarding environmental improvement projects, Al-Sabah newspaper, published by the Iraqi Media Network, said: ‘Five ministries, in coordination with the main
team to support the national initiative to reduce emissions, will launch, tomorrow, Tuesday, 40 diverse projects to improve the environmental reality, including the establishment of forests and green belts over an area of more than five thousand dunums in various governorates of the country.’
Director of the Central Quality Department at the Ministry of Electricity and Rapporteur of the National Initiative Support Team to Reduce Emissions, Shaima Al-Tamimi, said in a statement to Al-Sabah: The Ministries of Electricity, Agriculture, Education, and Oil, in addition to the National Security Chancellery, in coordination with the National Initiative Support Team, will launch a new package tomorrow, Tuesday that includes 40 environmental projects, aiming to develop and improve the environmental reality, most notably the establishment of forests, parks, and green belts.
It added: ‘The projects include the establishment of 17 parks and 16 urban forests with an area of 428 dunums, in addition to four green belts wi
th an area of 4,626 dunums,’ stressing that a number of governorates have completed the process of identifying the land and analyzing the soil to make it suitable for planting trees, which will be green belts to contribute to blocking the winds, reducing storms and dust, as well as lowering temperatures and reducing carbon levels in the atmosphere.’
Al-Tamimi stated: ‘The projects expected to be implemented have taken into account the requirements for success by selecting trees that need small amounts of water, and they also release environmentally friendly gases, in addition to allocating wastewater for irrigation purposes, in addition to a perpetuation and follow-up plan to preserve the sustainability of the crops.’
Al-Zaman newspaper followed the decline in the level of electrical energy equipment with the first heat wave sweeping the country.
It referred to a statement by the Ministry of Electricity that Minister Ziyad Ali Fadel conducting a late-hour inspection tour to the maintenance centers in the a
reas of Hay Al-Amel and Al-Jihad in Al-Karkh, with the aim of seeing directly the performance of the working teams and the extent of their readiness to deal with emergency breakdowns, and his dissatisfaction with some of the numbers and procedures that were taken. Upon reviewing it, he directed the dismissal of the director of Al-Amel neighborhood maintenance center due to the large number of malfunctions in the circuit breaker of his responsibility and the weak response to addressing the defect.
The newspaper added: ‘It is clear from the ministry’s position and statements that there are continuous malfunctions with a relatively weak response from maintenance staff.’
It went on to say: ‘The significant decline in the level of service equipment compared to last year is tangible not only by citizens, but also by the government. However, what prompted the street to question this time is the ministry’s failure to disclose the reason for the decline in equipment.’
Source: National Iraqi News Agency