Environmental observatory warns of candidates' campaign 'Waste'

Shafaq News / Iraqi Green Observatory, a civil organization dedicated to environmental protection, urged the candidates running for provincial council elections on Sunday to promptly remove their electoral campaign "waste" immediately after the electoral process concludes.

Omar Abdullatif, a member of the observatory, informed Shafaq News Agency that "the cost of removing electoral advertisements scattered across Baghdad's streets and in the provinces after the elections could amount to hundreds of millions of dinars", noting, "political blocs and candidates would not make any efforts to remove these materials, unlike the efforts they exerted in putting up their campaigns."

Emphasizing the necessity of removing these campaign materials, Abdullatif stressed, "They must be taken down due to weather fluctuations, especially during the winter season, as they might fall and damage roads and planted gardens. Additionally, they sometimes obstruct drivers' visibility and deface the medians and green spaces where they're placed."

The observatory member called upon all candidates in Baghdad and the provinces to swiftly remove their campaign materials right after the elections and to assist governmental service efforts in this regard.

He pointed out, "the funds spent on electoral campaigns would have been more appropriately allocated to support environmental causes, such as planting green spaces or irrigation projects", and highlighted a complete absence of environmental issues in the electoral programs of the candidates.