Halabjans Resent Lack of Investment

Before the chemical weapon attacks, before it became a symbol of Kurdish suffering at the hands of Saddam Hussein's regime, Halabja was known as one of the most agriculturally rich areas of Iraq.



Pomegranates, grains, grapes, tobacco and nuts grew in Halabja's fertile soil. And those not working in the town’s thriving agricultural sector were employed by local factories.



Today, eighteen years after the Iraqi military launched chemical attacks on this mountainous town near the Iranian border, the factories destroyed by war remain closed.



The agriculture industry, which once employed about 90 per cent of Halabjans, never recovered after the 1988 attacks and the United Nations-imposed sanctions in the 1990s. Local products now struggle to compete with lower-priced imports.



"Halabja's economy needs support," said Arsalan Manucher, an economics professor at the University of Sulaimaniyah who is from Halabja. "Even after all that has happened in the area, it can be restored."



Many people in Halabja, a town of about 80,000 in Sulaimaniyah province, feel betrayed because their economy remains stalled since Kurds took administrative control of the northeastern Iraqi region in 1991.



Their expectations grew when sanctions were dropped in 2003.



The lifting of the embargo led to an improvement in the lives of many Iraqi Kurds, but few in Halabja experienced any benefits.



Many of the survivors of the chemical weapons attacks still suffer dozens of different ailments, including cancer and respiratory issues, and there is no decent health care. The roads are not paved, and buildings hit during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s lie in rubble.



Last month, the memorial to Halabja's chemical attack victims was set on fire during a protest over poor services during an anniversary of the outrage.



Security forces opened fired on demonstrators, killing a teenage boy.



Economics and political analysts believe the protest stemmed from authorities’ neglect of the town. Demonstrators who took to the streets said they wanted more than empty promises of aid.



Shortly after the protest, the Kurdish government pledged 30 million US dollars for projects in Halabja. They will prioritise basic services, such as water, roads and health care - economic development is not high on the agenda.



Meanwhile, a conference on the rehabilitation of Halabja was indefinitely delayed last week because the Kurdish authorities did not come through with the funds, said a conference organiser.



The Kurdish government’s financial transparency is so poor that even the town's former mayor said he didn't know how much money had been spent on Halabja. Jameel Abdulrahman served as mayor from 1996 to 2006 and said the town does not have its own budget or any control over finances.



If local authorities want something done, they must ask the relevant ministries in Sulaimaniyah. Abdulrahman said his requests for new factories for canning tomato paste and preserving the town's famed pomegranates have gone unheard.



Government officials say that the Sharazoor area, an agricultural region containing several towns including Halabja, received 105 million dollars over the last three years - but many observers believe that corrupt officials squander the funds.



However, misappropriation of government money is difficult to detect because the authorities exercise so little oversight and few local or international organisations monitor public finances.



Last year, said Abdulrahman, the foundation stones for three buildings were laid, but construction went no further. "In the last ten years I have done all my best for this town, but nothing has been done," he said.



The job market is equally static. The Kurdish government says it wants to promote a free market economy, but most Iraqi Kurds are employed by government services - particularly the police force. However, competition is stiff and job applicants often have to rely on connections.



"The economic situation is terrible in Halabja," said Yaseen Najim, 27, an unemployed resident who has tried several times to find work. "There is no company or factory we can work in."



Agriculture, once Halabja's primary economic resource, has had little support and local products cannot compete with cheap imports of Iranian and Syrian fruits and vegetables.



"It's a shame that we're importing products when we have such fertile land," said Manucher.



Halabja has great potential, he maintained, but farmers need better equipment, irrigation systems and transportation.



"It's not just Halabja," said Ibrahim Khidr Ahmad, head of the planning and follow-up directorate in the Sulaimaniyah government's agriculture ministry. "The situation for farmers and farming isn't good in all of the areas [of Iraq]. The country was destroyed."



Ahmad said ministry officials recently visited Halabja to discuss assistance for the area, and have allocated six million dollars for irrigation projects. He also said the Baghdad government will start buying Iraqi wheat this year - currently, three quarters of the country’s needs are provided by US imports.



But the authorities are reluctant to support factories unless they are in private hands. So, for instance, they have granted a 1.5 million dollar loan to a Dutch company building a seven million dollar dairy factory outside of Halabja.



"We're not taking on the burden of building factories, because all government factories are unsuccessful," he said. "All over the world the private sector runs factories. The era of the government building them and employing people is over."



Mariwan Hama-Saeed is Kurdish editor of the Iraqi Crisis Report.