Escalating Demands To Expose Corruption In Iraqi Ports: A Threat To The National Economy, 22 SEPT

 Escalating Demands To Expose Corruption In Iraqi Ports: A Threat To The National Economy

Posted On 2024-09-21 By Sotaliraq  The Iraqi arena is witnessing increasing demands to uncover corruption files in Iraqi ports, as these ports are among the most important vital facilities for the Iraqi economy.

Suspicions have increased about financial and administrative irregularities in import and export operations, which have negatively affected government revenues.

Political and parliamentary parties are demanding transparent investigations to uncover those involved and hold them accountable, considering that corruption in these institutions contributes to the deterioration of the economic situation and hinders development and reform plans.

This comes at a time when Iraq is seeking to strengthen financial oversight and achieve transparency in government institutions.

Independent MP Yasser Al-Hussaini says, “The most dangerous corruption file in the Iraqi government is the file of the General Company for Iraqi Ports, where there is a waste of money and a lack of engagement with the voices calling for stopping this corruption.”

He added, "The government has ignored the ports corruption file, although the ministerial program stipulates combating corruption, as there are corruption files that will not be investigated even with the end of the current government's term, especially in the General Ports Company. "

Al-Hussaini calls on the government to “pay attention to the voices calling for withdrawing the current management of the aforementioned company, and to open a fair judicial investigation to look into the number of identified violations.”

For his part, the head of the Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee, Karim Aliwi Al-Muhammadawi, revealed suspicions of corruption in the manipulation of types of cars and customs clearance at ports and border crossings.

Al-Muhammadawi says, “There is a lack of oversight operations and a lack of coordination between the security and oversight agencies within the Iraqi ports and border crossings, as the competent oversight agencies are required to play their role in reducing suspicions of corruption and preserving public money.”

In this context, MP Alaa Al-Haidari, a member of the Iraqi Ports Corruption Investigation Committee, said: “We were surprised to find a shipment of about 20,000 tons of yellow corn that was rotten and spoiled inside a ship coming from Australia. There were approvals from some government agencies to unload this shipment, so we were surprised to find about 6,000 tons of yellow corn unloaded in the warehouses of a Turkish factory used to receive cooking oil in the port of Umm Qasr.”

He added: “We found that the contract included that the yellow corn coming from Australia was used for oil, and after it was spoiled, its quality was changed to animal feed because it was exposed to rot. After examining this material, it became clear that it was not suitable for animal feed, nor was it suitable as cooking oil.”

He explained: “The opinion of the Parliamentary Order 160 Committee to investigate port corruption was to reserve and inform the Director of the Southern Ports and the Customs Administration not to unload the remaining shipment from these warehouses,

but the information received indicates that approximately 14 thousand tons of this damaged shipment were unloaded from these warehouses,” stressing that “every party that gave approval to unload this shipment will bear responsibility for negligence, and an investigation will be opened into this dangerous file.”

It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Finance and the Customs Authority are seriously seeking to make new progress in implementing the “ASYCUDA” system in the Grand Welcome Square at Basra Ports in rapid procedures to generalize information technology and limit commercial transactions electronically as is happening in more than 80 countries around the world.

At the beginning of 2024, the Iraqi General Customs Authority announced that its revenues during the past year amounted to one trillion, 33 billion, 765 million, 697 thousand, 521 Iraqi dinars, an increase of 28 percent, compared to 2022, expressing its hope to maximize its revenues during 2024 after completing the implementation of electronic systems in all customs centers.  LINK