Iraqis rejected, through their accounts on social media, the change in the basic design of the project to establish the large Faw port, noting that there is international pressure to reduce the depth of the port from 19 meters to 14.
Iraqi tweeters said that a depth of 19 meters would allow the port to receive giant ships, which would benefit the country's economy, while a depth of 14 meters would turn it into a port that receives fishing boats or small boats.
# Depth_19_Our demand Without this depth, there is no point in the port of Fao, health, people pic.twitter.com/KqcQR3BlNs
- Haidr (@ Haidr76534756) September 21, 2020
The large port of Al-Faw will be the front of Iraq’s trade
and work window by connecting the country economically
with the Gulf countries, in addition to advanced countries in the field of energy and investment.
This port is the beginning of the creation of
- economic
cities - giant electrical
stations - petrochemical
plants - multiple factories Services
- Airport for shipping goods
__
Muhammad Al-Saadi pic.twitter.com/SAvkRyIEoE
- 🇮🇶MOHAMED ALSADY (@Mohamadalsadiy) September 20, 2020
Some ask why we are so desperate to defend the #faw_major
- The cost of the project is $ 5.5 billion - The
capacity is 99 million tons annually
- The number of commercial berths is 90
- The number of oil berths 6 -
Capacity is 25 million containers
- The largest port overlooking the Arabian Gulf
- One of the 10 largest ports in the world
1️⃣
- Ahmad Al-Ziyadi (@ ahmedalzyade1) September 21, 2020
For his part, political activist Laith Shubar called on the Iraqi government to clarify the details of the Faw port project for the Iraqis and dispel their concerns.
A great confusion revolves around the large port of Faw and the railway connection. It is the right of the people to defend their wealth, and the government’s duty is to explain to the people with full transparency and credibility all details and in public, to answer the experts ’concerns and to interact with every national proposal and an experienced expert to benefit from his experiences. Government silence does not enhance confidence
- Laith Shubbar Laith Shubbar (@LaithShubbar) September 20, 2020
The government position
Commenting on these criticisms, Iraqi Transport Minister Nasser Al-Shibli said on Sunday that the basic design of the port will not change, indicating that its depth will remain 19 meters, and it will not change to 14 meters.
Al-Shibli indicated that there is negotiation with the executing company of the large Faw port project, in order to complete it by borrowing, because the government does not have the necessary costs for that.
For its part, the Korean company Daewoo stated that it will continue to work on the completion of the project without changing its general designs.
The Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi said in statements published a few days ago that there is a real problem called the port of Faw, and it has been traded for 17 years, indicating that there are countries neighboring Iraq working on establishing infrastructure to build ports that may threaten the Iraqi situation.
Al-Kazemi confirmed that his government would be launched in the port of Al-Faw within very close months, by working seriously to complete the project, which he described as a sovereign.
Prime Minister @MAKadhimi during the cabinet session: There is a real problem in the port of Al-Faw, as it has been traded for seventeen years, and we will work seriously during this period to achieve the FAO project, and we will not allow anyone to violate our right to the project of building a sovereign port.
pic.twitter.com/J9o5dfunic
- Media Office of the Prime Minister 🇮🇶 (@IraqiPMO) September 15, 2020
Although 10 years have passed since the Iraqi government announced the laying of the foundation stone for the large port of Faw in southern Iraq, the project is still far from completion, due to many problems, some of which are related to With funding, and another due to external pressure.
The port is located in the Ras al-Bisha area on the Faw peninsula in the Basra Governorate in southern Iraq, and the project cost is about 4.6 billion euros. Globally, the foundation stone for this project was laid on April 5, 2010.