Iraq News
Economy

Mosul residents call for airport restoration

By Alaa Hussain in Baghdad

Iraqi forces hold a position near Mosul's airport on February 24th, during an operation to recapture the city from the 'Islamic State of Iraq and Syria'. Since the group's ouster, city residents have been calling on the Iraqi government to reopen the airport. [Mahmud Saleh/AFP]

Iraqi forces hold a position near Mosul's airport on February 24th, during an operation to recapture the city from the 'Islamic State of Iraq and Syria'. Since the group's ouster, city residents have been calling on the Iraqi government to reopen the airport. [Mahmud Saleh/AFP]

Mosul residents are calling on the Iraqi government to reopen a passport office in the city and rehabilitate the local airport, which was destroyed by the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS), so that air travel can resume.

"We were living in complete isolation imposed on us by the terrorists when they controlled Mosul," local resident Ahmad Nazhan told Diyaruna.

"Yet here we are, two months after the liberation, and no passport office has been opened in Mosul, and no one has given any thought to rebuilding the only airport in the city," he said.

Reopening the airport and enabling Mosul residents to travel has nothing to do with tourism or travel for pleasure, he stressed.

"It is because we have patients who require treatment outside the country, and displaced residents in Turkey and other neighbouring countries who we want to see," he said, adding that it is above all a humanitarian issue.

Ninawa province urgently needs the airport to be operational so that national and foreign companies can take part in the reconstruction efforts, provincial council member Hassan Shubeib al-Sabawi told Diyaruna.

Shortage of funding

The airport can serve as a key conduit for logistical support for reconstruction operations and facilitate the entry of investors in the future, al-Sabawi said. "How can one imagine vigorous construction activity without an airport?"

However, the provincial and federal government do not have sufficient funds to rebuild it, he said, suggesting that it be floated as an investment opportunity.

This would open the door for foreign companies to build and operate the airport, he said, and leave the local government to focus on more urgent projects within the city, such as the restoration of water and electricity services.

The Ministry of Transportation has dispatched a specialised committee from the Civil Aviation Authority to Mosul airport to assess the damage, ministry spokesman Salem Moussa said.

Before reconstruction work can begin, the damage must first be assessed and evaluated and cost estimates drawn up, he told Diyaruna, adding that reconstruction operations must be well planned.

"We are currently working on the assessment and cannot provide a timeline as to when work would commence or conclude," he said.

Demand for passports

The Ministry of Interior has been working hard to issue residents official documents, Ninawa police chief Brig. Gen. Watheq al-Hamdani told Diyaruna.

"The ministry is currently focusing on the issuance of civil status identity cards and Iraqi citizenship certificates, as they are of more importance at this time," he said, noting that these are required before passports can be issued.

He admitted there have been problems with the issuance of identity cards due to the massive turnout at the Directorate of Citizenship and Civil Affairs.

"The Iraqi Police Services Directorate is keen to provide the best service to citizens in the shortest time possible based on the legal mechanisms," he said.

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Reconstructing the city and returning people back home are the most important thing because people got tired of rent and tents.

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Peace be upon you! Reconstructing the airport and opening the passport office is not more important than reconstructing Mosul's Old City and bringing its residents back. Don't forget that the Old City is the mother of Mosul and all Mosul people, and that most of its people are from the middle and poor classes.

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