ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Local authorities in the Kurdistan Region's Garmiyan Administration have cautioned that archeological sites in the southernmost town of Kifri are on the brink of collapse, should the regional government fail to take serious actions to renovate them.
Kifri's archeological sites are "on the brink of collapse," Salih Ameen, in charge of Garmiyan Archeology office, told Rudaw's Hiwa Jamal on Wednesday.
Ameen added that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) earmarked seven billion Iraqi dinars (around $5.3 million) to renovate the Kifri’s landmark Qaysari Bazaar in 2013, and a company started its designs at the cost of over 260 million dinars (around $198 thousand), but the regional government never paid them.
The company finished their job "a hundred percent, but they never got their pay, not even a single penny."
He said they have been notified by the relevant Garmiyan Administration authorities that "the project is old and therefore we cannot be paid for it."
"No penny from the allotted amount of money [$5.6 million] has been spent to renovate [the Qaysari bazaar, let alone other archeological sites," he lamented. "It is unfortunate to see that all of these [heritage] sites are diminishing."
The archeology official additionally warned that the scourge is not exclusive to Kifri, but that “all of the archeological sites in Garmiyan are under the threat of collapse," except for a few sites - including Sehrwana Castle in Kalar and Saray Kifri - that were renovated by the KRG.
Sherwana Castle is a historical monument and tourist site located in Garmiyan's Kalar, built by Mohammed Pasha Jaff, a chief of the Jaff tribe, in the 19th century. It served as a tribal administrative center and residence.
Saray Kifri is located in the western part of the city, built by British mandatory authorities in 1919. The site served as a court and other government institutions until the 1970s.
"I am once again urging the Kurdistan Regional Government to attach serious attention to the archeological sites, not just in Garmiyan, but across Kurdistan," the head of archeology department of Garmiyan said, adding that they have already reached out to private companies to "step in and help us renovate the archeological sites.
In Sulaimani province, there are more than 600 archeological areas.
