Habib added, “But these projects, mostly short term, have ended up as a fiasco because of the lack of interest and professional staff.” He also stressed that "corruption, the lack of good planning and funding led to the failure of the sandstorm bumper projects.”
Habib's talk about the failure of the projects was reinforced by the failure of the Green Belt Project in 2017 in Wasit province, which planted green areas in mostly sandy regions. However, the project has not been completed due to financial austerity.
Drought has drained the Green Belt Project’s trees in Karbala, forcing the local government on Oct. 10 to abandon the project to other parties able to finance it and complete it.
Suhaila Abbas Al-Khikani, a member of the Babil Governorate Council and an official of the Agricultural Committee, told Al-Monitor, “The government measures to combat the phenomenon of desertification are not enough, which is increasing the environmental threat of storms.”
She added, "The establishment of a green belt has become a necessity that cannot be delayed, because it will be the only source of resistance to desertification coming mostly from the western border.”
Khikani continued, "The region of the island across the border between Syria and Saudi Arabia was one of the most fertile areas in the region and had a huge economic return, but today it has become a desert."
The government is becoming more serious in its fight against dust storms. On May 21, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi discussed with Erik Solheim, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, the formation of a green belt within a regional program involving a number of countries, including Iraq.
Comments are closed.