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By Amjed Rasheed:
This article discusses the fragility of the management system in Kurdistan. It is reductionist, focusing only on the poor transportation system and the centralized management system in the region.
Despite the fact that the airport in Dohuk governorate is not finished, I find it ironic to have three airports in a small region like Kurdistan. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) seeks external cooperation while it has failed to achieve internal cohesion. We are trying to run while learning how to walk.
People in the three main cities are not well connected. In fact, they are separated in the same way as a young person who asks for the hand of a girl in another city: it is very possible for the proposal to be rejected. This is because of the lack of interaction among the people of the region. The reader might think I am just being humorous, but this is a serious and dangerous issue in Kurdistan that needs to be tackled. Till now there are Badinis in Kurdistan who cannot speak Sorani, and vice versa. This is all due to the poor transportation system, I believe.
In addition, while the Kurdistan region enjoys a federal system of management with Baghdad, internally it is very centralized. Further, if any of us has an official case to manage, we need to go to the capital, Erbil, to tackle it. The decisive actions have always been shaped and made in three. As a result, we citizens in Sulymania and Duhok need to drive or take a taxi for almost three hours to reach Erbil. These long roads are badly made too. Almost no week passes in Kurdistan without a deadly accident on the road to Erbil. Human security in Kurdistan is inadequate.
In summary, the KRG must adopt practical policies to tackle these problems. First, the management system needs to be decentralized. Erbil should be the capital of hard politics only. The remaining administrative issues should be divided up among the governorates. Second, there is an urgent need to build a well-connected railway network in Kurdistan. Having this railway network will bring significant benefits. Socially, it will ensure internal cohesion in Kurdistan, where geography and politics has always help to divide it. Administratively, it will make management much more efficient. Efficient management is tightly linked to an efficient mobility.
Amjed Rasheed is a PhD candidate at Durham University
Copyright © 2013 Kurdistantribune.com
A great article Mr. Amjad! We DO need a rainway station connecting the three cities, and we need this urgently!
Tens of young men and women get killed on a monthly basis on the ‘ancient and cracked’ roads between Duhok and Erbil, and who cares! Some get killed while those responsible for their safely accomulate coins beyond need or purpose! Unfortunately, creativity is almost zero in Kurdistan! Everyone is too busy collecting his oen coins!
I hope the coming generations will make a change in our society, a change in minds before buildings!