Iraqi MP flags around 1K unpermitted workers at Karbala refinery
Shafaq News- Karbala
Iraq's Karbala refinery employed hundreds of foreign workers without valid permits and awarded multimillion-dinar service contracts under suspected legal, administrative, and financial violations, MP Rabie Al-Mousawi told Shafaq News on Tuesday.
Al-Mousawi, a member of Parliament's Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee, said he spent more than three months reviewing documents before referring the file to the Integrity Commission, the Prime Minister's Office, the Federal Supreme Court, the Ministry of Labor, and other relevant authorities, urging a comprehensive investigation into the alleged violations and any misuse of public funds.
The documents indicate that 807 Indian workers, 149 Iranians, 40 Pakistanis, and other foreign nationals are employed at the refinery without employment visas. They also show that the company employing them has not been registered with the Ministry of Labor for the past two years and that its Iraqi workforce likewise remains unregistered, which Al-Moussawi described as a violation of Iraq's labor and social security laws.
He also questioned several contracts linked to the refinery, including a cleaning contract worth about 100 million Iraqi dinars (around $76,000) a month, arguing that the condition of the facility does not justify its value. He further criticized an employee transportation contract valued at about 8 billion dinars ($6.08 million) annually, saying the Oil Ministry could provide the service directly at a lower cost.
The refinery's operating contract is valued at approximately 22 billion dinars ($16.72 million) per month and is separate from the cleaning, transportation, and procurement agreements. Al-Mousawi called for all of the contracts to undergo scrutiny by the relevant oversight bodies.
Located about 40 kilometers west of Karbala, the refinery is one of Iraq's largest strategic refining projects. Construction began in 2014 under a South Korean consortium led by Hyundai Engineering & Construction at a cost of about $6.5 billion. The facility spans roughly six million square meters, processes 140,000 barrels of crude oil per day delivered through a pipeline from Basra, and is the first refinery in Iraq built to Euro 5 environmental standards.
According to official figures, the refinery produces about nine million liters of gasoline each day, alongside four million liters of fuel oil, three million liters of kerosene, eight million liters of heavy fuel oil, 1,000 metric tons of asphalt, 750 metric tons of liquefied petroleum gas, and 360 metric tons of solid sulfur. Water is supplied from the Tuwayrij area, while four on-site power-generation units with a combined capacity of 200 megawatts provide the electricity needed for its operations.
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