Saturday, 07 November 2009,
By Qassim Khidhir
The Kurdish Globe
The quality of rations is becoming intolerable to many.
Many people in Kurdistan do not eat all the food they receive monthly from the government, because it is not suitable for eating, claim recipients.
Amina Muhammad, a 53-year-old woman, said her family does not depend on the food rations that they get from the government. Her family is not rich, and they choose to sell the rations in the market. The rice, tea and lentils are extremely bad, said Muhammad, and sometime the media and the KRG warn people not to eat the ration food because they are expired. As proof, TV stations in Kurdistan have showed dead mice inside flour rations.
"If we depend on the ration food, we will die either of sickness or hunger," Muhammad said.
A shop owner in the Erbil city center, Mofaq Ali, buys the food rations. He told the "Globe" that he puts the food in sacks then either sells it to the very poorest who depend on food rations or to farmers, who give the food to sheep and cows. Or, the food is sent to neighboring countries.
Kareem Muhammad, a shop owner who distributes the food ration to the people told the "Globe" that the quality of rations varies monthly. For instance this month the tea is good, but for the last three months the tea was bad; no one wanted to take it.
"For three months people did not take the tea; my shop was full of it even the garbage truck did not accept the tea," said Muhammad. He noted that rations come from many countries including Egypt, Iran, the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, and Germany.
The Iraqi Ministry of Trade is responsible for the monthly food rations and all the contracts, and there is an ongoing argument between Baghdad's and the KRG's ministries of Trade.
The KRG Ministry of Trade continuously file grievances with Baghdad about the quality of rations, and demand that Baghdad give them the money instead so that the KRG can purchase good-quality rations for Kurdistan Region. Baghdad has rejected such demands, however, and insists that the Baghdad government will remain responsible for buying monthly food rations.
Corruption at the Baghdad Trade Ministry is an important issue in Iraq because the ministry is in charge of the food-rationing system on which 60 percent of Iraqis depend. Officials at the ministry, which spends billions of dollars buying rice, sugar, flour, and other items, are notorious among Iraqis for importing food that is unfit for human consumption for which they charge the state the full international price.
Iraqi Trade Minister Abdul Falah al-Sudany was recently forced to quit after the Iraqi Commission for Public Integrity discovered that al-Sudany's brother and other relatives, who were working at the Trade Ministry, had made millions out of kickbacks from food purchases.
Iraq is deemed the third-most corrupt country in the world after Burma and Somalia, out of 180 countries, according to the corruption index compiled by Transparency International.
Although it is an important oil producer, many Iraqis are on the edge of starvation; 20 to 25 percent of Iraq's 27 million people live below the poverty line on less than US$66 (£41) a month.
The Oil for Food Program established by the United Nations in 1995 allowed Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary Iraqi citizens without allowing Iraq to rebuild its military.
The rations consist of items sold for a small sum of money at retail outlets on production of a ration card. They include rice (3kg a person), sugar (2kg), flour (9kg), cooking oil (1.25kg), milk for adults (250 grams), tea (200g), beans, children's milk, soap, detergents, and tomato paste.
There is a proposal to replace the food ration with cash, but in a meeting with the Iraqi Trade Ministry, all Iraqi governors opposed the proposal.
The majority of the people that the "Globe" talked with in Erbil city prefer the rations over the money, because they believe if the Iraqi government pays people money instead of food, the businessmen will increase the price of food in the markets.
"I demand the government give us less food, but good-quality food," said Bestoon Saleh, 25, who is against replacing food with cash.
Moreover, if food rations are stopped, thousands of local people who work within the food rationing system, like the shops that distribute the rations, workers who unload them from the trucks, and the truck drivers, will become unemployed.
Kareem Muhammad, who distributes food to the people, said in Erbil city there are more than 2,500 shops that distribute the rations, and in every shop more than one person works.
"If Baghdad stops the rationing system, we will all be jobless," said Muhammad worriedly. He receives a small sum of money from every family for the service he provides.
Amina Muhammad, a 53-year-old woman, said her family does not depend on the food rations that they get from the government. Her family is not rich, and they choose to sell the rations in the market. The rice, tea and lentils are extremely bad, said Muhammad, and sometime the media and the KRG warn people not to eat the ration food because they are expired. As proof, TV stations in Kurdistan have showed dead mice inside flour rations.
"If we depend on the ration food, we will die either of sickness or hunger," Muhammad said.
A shop owner in the Erbil city center, Mofaq Ali, buys the food rations. He told the "Globe" that he puts the food in sacks then either sells it to the very poorest who depend on food rations or to farmers, who give the food to sheep and cows. Or, the food is sent to neighboring countries.
Kareem Muhammad, a shop owner who distributes the food ration to the people told the "Globe" that the quality of rations varies monthly. For instance this month the tea is good, but for the last three months the tea was bad; no one wanted to take it.
"For three months people did not take the tea; my shop was full of it even the garbage truck did not accept the tea," said Muhammad. He noted that rations come from many countries including Egypt, Iran, the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, and Germany.
The Iraqi Ministry of Trade is responsible for the monthly food rations and all the contracts, and there is an ongoing argument between Baghdad's and the KRG's ministries of Trade.
The KRG Ministry of Trade continuously file grievances with Baghdad about the quality of rations, and demand that Baghdad give them the money instead so that the KRG can purchase good-quality rations for Kurdistan Region. Baghdad has rejected such demands, however, and insists that the Baghdad government will remain responsible for buying monthly food rations.
Corruption at the Baghdad Trade Ministry is an important issue in Iraq because the ministry is in charge of the food-rationing system on which 60 percent of Iraqis depend. Officials at the ministry, which spends billions of dollars buying rice, sugar, flour, and other items, are notorious among Iraqis for importing food that is unfit for human consumption for which they charge the state the full international price.
Iraqi Trade Minister Abdul Falah al-Sudany was recently forced to quit after the Iraqi Commission for Public Integrity discovered that al-Sudany's brother and other relatives, who were working at the Trade Ministry, had made millions out of kickbacks from food purchases.
Iraq is deemed the third-most corrupt country in the world after Burma and Somalia, out of 180 countries, according to the corruption index compiled by Transparency International.
Although it is an important oil producer, many Iraqis are on the edge of starvation; 20 to 25 percent of Iraq's 27 million people live below the poverty line on less than US$66 (£41) a month.
The Oil for Food Program established by the United Nations in 1995 allowed Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary Iraqi citizens without allowing Iraq to rebuild its military.
The rations consist of items sold for a small sum of money at retail outlets on production of a ration card. They include rice (3kg a person), sugar (2kg), flour (9kg), cooking oil (1.25kg), milk for adults (250 grams), tea (200g), beans, children's milk, soap, detergents, and tomato paste.
There is a proposal to replace the food ration with cash, but in a meeting with the Iraqi Trade Ministry, all Iraqi governors opposed the proposal.
The majority of the people that the "Globe" talked with in Erbil city prefer the rations over the money, because they believe if the Iraqi government pays people money instead of food, the businessmen will increase the price of food in the markets.
"I demand the government give us less food, but good-quality food," said Bestoon Saleh, 25, who is against replacing food with cash.
Moreover, if food rations are stopped, thousands of local people who work within the food rationing system, like the shops that distribute the rations, workers who unload them from the trucks, and the truck drivers, will become unemployed.
Kareem Muhammad, who distributes food to the people, said in Erbil city there are more than 2,500 shops that distribute the rations, and in every shop more than one person works.
"If Baghdad stops the rationing system, we will all be jobless," said Muhammad worriedly. He receives a small sum of money from every family for the service he provides.
