Farmers protest unpaid wheat dues in Baghdad
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Hundreds of farmers from several Iraqi provinces protested on Tuesday outside the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Baghdad to demand overdue government payments.
According to a Shafaq News correspondent, the demonstrators focused their grievances on unpaid dues for wheat sold to the state under Iraq's grain procurement program. They called for the immediate release of the outstanding payments, saying the continued delay had caused financial hardship for growers.
Under Iraq's wheat marketing system, the federal government purchases the harvest from farmers at set prices through state silos, making timely disbursement central to growers' incomes.
Iraqi Trade Minister Mustafa Nazar al-Ani pledged Monday to pay the farmers' dues, according to First Deputy Speaker of the Council of Representatives Adnan Faihan.
The Iraqi cabinet approved on May 5 a plan to settle farmers' dues for the previous and current seasons by having the Ministry of Finance include the loan amounts and accrued interest in the forthcoming draft budget law.
The protest followed an earlier demonstration on May 3, when dozens of farmers from central and southern Iraq gathered in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad to demand their payments before riot police dispersed them with water cannons.
