“With our ministry's available resources, we have been able to establish 42 housing units to meet the needs of the local population and build a school and a veterinary department with a grant from the French Consulate,” said Samira Abdel Shabib, the director general of the Marshes Rehabilitation Center at the Water Resources Ministry. “We are still waiting for the funds allocated to the marshes to be released, estimated at 80 billion Iraqi dinars [$68.5 million].”
On May 18, the Canadian Embassy in Iraq launched programs to develop administrative capabilities in the transfer of powers and the development of marshes in Dhi Qar, pointing out that the security stability in the province is a great motivation for joint action.
Although Shabib does not believe that the marshes will be removed from the World Heritage List, she said, “Preserving biodiversity and stability, in addition to answering to residents’ needs and refraining from grazing and overfishing, is more important to UNESCO than the establishment of infrastructure.”
She added, “We have been working for quite a while on providing the families living in the marshes with electricity and alternative sources of power.”
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