NRT reporter Rzgar Kochar among the protesters in Erbil governorate on August 11,2021 (NRT Digital Media)
PM:03:13:11/08/2021
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SULAIMANI — After enduring two months of water
shortages, residents in Erbil’s Badawa neighborhood protested on Wednesday
(August 11), blocking the city’s 100-Meter Road.
"We don’t have water and the government is not responding
properly," one protester told NRT.
The Kurdistan Region’s capital city has been plagued with
water supply problems for most of the summer, forcing residents to resort to
contracting tanker trucks and buying bottled water for cleaning, bathing, and
drinking, which places a significant burden on many lower-income families.
Earlier this week, Abdulla, who owns a tanker and has been
selling water for more than five years, told NRT that his services are much
more in demand this year because of the shortages.
"We ask the government to respond to our request and if the
government considers itself the representative of the nation, it must be with
the nation," another protester said on Wednesday.
"I cannot buy water because I do not have money," said a
third protester.
This week, a resident of Shamamk sub-district told NRT that
he spent 480,000 Iraqi dinars ($329) on water from tankers over the past three
months.
According to UNDP, average monthly household employment
income in the Kurdistan Region as of this spring was 361,099 Iraqi dinars
($248).
Head of Erbil Provincial Council Ali Rashid told NRT that
the shortages were caused by electrical supply problems at wells in the
governorate and lack of rain this past winter.
While reporting on the protest on Wednesday, a team of NRT
journalists came under attack by the manager of the neighborhood and members of
the security forces, who were dressed in plainclothes.
NRT reporter Choman Mahmoud said that the attackers targeted
the cameraman and confiscated the team’s microphone to prevent them from
recording the protest or interviewing protesters.
Before their reporting equipment was seized, the NRT team
spoke with a mullah, who said that "citizens should not forget this situation
during the election."
"The government must provide the people with basic
necessities," he added.
(NRT Digital Media)