Shafafiat Project: An essential trust bridge between citizens and authority

Kurdistan 02:25 PM - 2022-12-19

Qubad Talabani, Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region

One of the most significant initiatives for financial transparency in the Kurdistan Region is Shafafiat Project, which is anticipated to spread from Sulaymaniyah to other provinces in the Kurdistan Region as well as Iraq. According to an independent parliamentarian, "Shafafiat Project will serve as evidence for parliamentarians to prevent corruption, so everyone should incorporate it."

The project will be evidence for the parliament, according to a Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) MP in the Kurdistan Parliament.

Qubad Talabani, Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, recently announced the launch of a project titled "Shafafiat," meaning "transparency," which provides information and the amount of income from every administration department in Sulaymaniyah. The project is considered the first of its kind in over 30 years of the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) rule.

Through the Shafafiat Project website, the general public and the media can examine sources of income and revenues.

The Deputy Prime Minister stated that Shafafiat is simply the first step and that the publication of all Sulaymaniyah expenditures will be the next, allowing Kurdish citizens to know the truth.

Shafafiat Project will be part of the budget bill

In the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, Project Shafafiat is regarded as a first step that should be carried out in other provinces.

Sirwan Baban, an independent member of the Kurdistan Parliament, told PUKMEDIA that the unveiling of Shafafiat Project in the province of Sulaymaniyah as a first step is an extremely excellent start.

"I hope the project will be implemented throughout Kurdistan because it is an attempt to recognize public rights officially, and the digitization of any data and information is important for the current stage of the Kurdistan Region," said MP Baban.

"The Shafafiat Project will be evidence for parliamentarians to prevent corruption and any work done to serve Kurdistan." "Everyone should imitate it; we can look at this project as part of the budget bill," he added.

In Shafafiat Project, people's revenue is for the people

The Shafafiat Project offers everyone the chance to learn about the government's revenues and expenditures. It's critical that people are informed about the region's economic issues.

"The revenue belongs to the people, and they should be aware of it," said Abbas Fatah, a member of the PUK faction in the Kurdistan Parliament, to PUKMEDIA. "The project is so vital, and it should have been implemented sooner."

Iraq and the whole of the Kurdistan Region should adopt transparency

Project Shafafiat is another effort of the Deputy Prime Minister in this direction. Qubad Talabani's efforts to digitize the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are applauded.

"The biometric system, which was a crucial step for transparency and disclosure of duplicate names and the number of employees and complete information about them, was followed by the Shafafiat project,"  which MP Fatah described as the second important step implemented by Qubad Talabani, Deputy Prime Minister.

Furthermore, he added: 
"The Shafafiat Project should have been implemented not in one province but in the whole Kurdistan Region." "We hope that it will be transferred to all cities in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq under the supervision of Qubad Talabani."

The KRG authorities should not be afraid to disclose revenue

Shafafiat Project will be utilized as a component of the budget bill to more accurately reflect revenue and expenditures and improve the delivery of public services.

"There is no question that the Kurdistan Region's residents should be informed of the annual budget and revenues through the parliament, but MP Fatah stated that the Shafafiat initiative will show revenues more correctly and more effectively because it releases data both daily and hourly."

"The Kurdistan Region will advance and the administration will be able to provide better services if officials are honest and transparent about revenues and spending,"  he continued. 

Every step towards transparency is appreciated

In order to better serve the needs of the population and prevent the wasting of public funds, MPs ask that the Shafafit project be comprehensive and include oil income.

Ali Hama Salih, a member of the Kurdistan Parliament, wrote on his Facebook page, "This idea, if seen as a first step to be followed by several subsequent ones, will be a positive thing."

In all of Kurdistan, Salih added, "Transparency and complete reform should cover oil, land, customs, contracts, security forces, military, courts, etc."

In addition, according to Qubad Talabani's spokesperson, Samir Hawrami, as mentioned to PUKMEDIA,
"Transparency in revenues and reform in many areas has been one of Qubad Talabani's goals since the previous cabinets, and work has been done in this regard."

"We hope that other provinces will benefit from this incredible service," he added.

Nothing will be hidden about the revenues

Qubad Talabani, the Deputy Prime Minister, has been working on this project for several cabinets, and he has also delivered a number of other digital works for the benefit of the public.

Using specific instances, Samir Hawrami stated: "Employee registration in the biometric system, service projects, the digitalization of citizen affairs in some offices, and a number of other similar projects have been implemented."

He also added:
"Qubad Talabani stated that www.shafafiat.com is not only a website for information presentation but also for reformulating the economic, financial, and banking infrastructure. "At the same time, there is transparency in the financial revenues of Sulaymaniyah, Halabja, Garmian, and Raparin."
 
The Shafafiat website provides a detailed breakdown of non-oil daily earnings for the Sulaymaniyah, Halabja, Garmian, and Raparin administrations, including the amounts collected by Sulaymaniyah's offices and directorates.
 
The website reports that Sulaymaniyah's earnings for the day of Saturday, December 17, were 426 million 448 thousand dinars, a decrease of 18% or 97 million dinars from the previous day.



Translated from Kurdish and edited by Hiran Halwan, Additional editing by Zareena Younis
PUKMEDIA