“After the decision of the KRG prime minister to keep the environment clean and protect the health of our citizens, our efforts continue to close down the refineries that do not comply with guidelines,” Erbil security forces (Asayish) said in a statement on Saturday, noting that two refineries were closed.
Dilshad Hirani, director of Erbil’s environment office, told Rudaw that the refineries were closed “because they had not implemented the guidelines for environmental cleanliness.”
“With the two closed refineries, the number of closed refineries has reached 59,” he said.
In January, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met with authorities to discuss pollution issues in Erbil and Duhok provinces, directing legal action against those who pollute the environment, including generators, factories, and oil refineries.
The KRG has been attempting to tackle this problem for years, periodically cracking down on major polluters.
Erbil’s air quality is frequently described as “unhealthy” by the Swiss IQAir air quality monitoring service. The city has one of the highest levels of air pollution in Iraq, with several culprits including plumes of smoke from electricity generators, oil refineries, and a large amount of cars using low-quality fuel.
Solin Hamadamin contributed to this report.
