Iraq's ministry of planning and development cooperation has decided to suspend a license awarded in 2011 to Saladin province to build a civil airport at an estimated cost of USD 150 million, an official told Zawya.
The airport was planned to be complete in a four-year period, the deputy governor of Saladin city, Ahmed Abdullah, said. It is located in Sadirat Albu Ajeel, 15 km from the center of the province and 40 km from Samarra city.
"We are not sure why the license to build the airport was suspended," Abdallah said. "The province complies with the necessary conditions for building the airport, on which other licenses were awarded to other cities such as Diyala, Dhi Qar, Anbar, Babil and Kirkuk."
Saladin officials will soon hold talks with the federal authority in Baghdad to dissuade them from rejecting the license renewal.
Iraq has four civil airports, the largest of which is Baghdad International Airport, followed by Basra, Najaf and Mosul airports. Self-governed Iraqi Kurdistan has two airports, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, which are regulated by the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Saladin province expects a boom in tourism and its economy as it has a number of unexploited oil fields. The airport is being built to support the economy-building efforts.
Fallah Hassan, an economist and member of the department of economic and financial policies at the Iraqi planning ministry, believes that the construction of local civil airports in the provinces is part of expanding the development base through enabling flourish local economies.
Iraq is planning to improve the infrastructure at some civil airports to facilitate the movement of goods and investors from one area to another, especially as it expects a broad economic boom, Hassan said.
© Zawya 2012
