Reactions to Golestan Governor’s Dismissal; Has the Problem Been Solved?
The dismissal of Golestan Province’s governor following the deaths and financial losses caused by flooding in the province has sparked various reactions. Many say the government’s profit-seeking schemes caused the disaster, and the governor’s dismissal does not cure the underlying problem.
Israel Jahangiri, First Vice President under Manaf Hashemi, removed the Golestan governor on Saturday, Farvardin 3 (March 23), stating that his absence from the region in the initial days when the flood engulfed the area was “absolutely unacceptable.” Jahangiri appointed Ali Gharabi, Manaf Hashemi’s deputy, as the acting governor of Golestan Province. Manaf Hashemi was traveling abroad when the flooding began in Golestan Province.
However, the flooding in Golestan, Mazandaran, and North Khorasan provinces unleashed a torrent of criticism regarding the incompetence of officials, mismanagement, and the government’s profit-seeking policies, which the dismissal of Golestan’s governor could not stem.
Some say the dismissal of Golestan’s governor is “cleaning up the face of the problem.” Because whether officials are in place or not, they do nothing useful for the people.
Some, while acknowledging the incompetence and inability to manage the crisis, have viewed this dismissal as the right step.
Other groups have called for the scope of dismissals to be expanded.
Government Policies; Four Decades of Environmental Destruction
In the last days of Esfand, heavy rainfall in the east of Golestan Province caused the overflow of Golestan, Golestan 2, and Bostan dams. The water levels of the Gorgan Rud, Chehel Chai, Qarah Su, and Aogan rivers rose sharply and burst their banks.
An interview between Golestan’s governor and Khabar Online, conducted three days after the flooding began, reveals a picture that critics consider evidence of the incompetence and irresponsibility of those in charge. In this interview, he states that their assumption was that “everything was in order” and that he had “put the province in order under the best circumstances,” “had done all the work that needed to be done,” but to no avail, as “the flood was 5 times the capacity of all the province’s rivers.”
Is the real cause of the disaster that befell the people of Golestan and Mazandaran provinces and buried them in water, mud, and silt due to rainfall exceeding officials’ expectations? If so, then the real disaster is yet to come. Iran’s Meteorological Organization has forecast severe rainfall in the coming days (Monday and Tuesday), and the Ministry of Energy has warned of flooding in 10 provinces. The Ministry of Interior has also announced a state of alert in five western provinces.
Experts Attribute Flooding and Destruction to Government Interference Rather Than Nature
Experts and environmental advocates point to the way surface water has been managed in Iran over the past four decades. Including reckless dam construction and the destruction of forests and rangelands. Some consider the daily destruction of 123 hectares of forest to be one of the main causes of flooding. Forest trees act as a natural barrier against flooding during heavy rainfall. Soil where trees have been cut lacks the resilience to resist heavy rainfall and flows along with mud, silt, and suspended materials.
Yashar Sultani, a journalist, wrote on Twitter that the government brought the “Forest Respiration Bill” to parliament in 2015 and sought to halt forest harvesting, but three Friday prayer leaders—Nurmofidi, Tabarsi, and Ghorbani, the Friday prayer leaders of Golestan, Mazandaran, and Gilan—were its main opponents.
Jabar Kouchaki Nejad, a representative from Rasht in parliament, also expressed concern about contractors in the timber industries suffering losses. He said these contractors “despite signing legal contracts, spending money, equipping workshops, and investing time, would go bankrupt.”
The approach to addressing deficiencies and “negligence or fault” regarding the Golestan flooding and resulting destruction, like many other problems in Iran, is accompanied by threats.
Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the judiciary, on the third day of Farvardin tasked the head of the State Inspection Organization to “immediately visit flood-affected areas to seriously and carefully evaluate and monitor various dimensions of the incident and the relief process for flood victims, and in case of any possible negligence or fault by any organization, either in terms of failure to make necessary predictions that caused damage or deficiencies in relief and services to the people, report the matter for further investigation.”
Simultaneously, Javad Javidnia, Deputy Prosecutor General for Cyberspace Affairs, stated: “Any collection of public aid by famous and recognized individuals and organizations is prohibited except through the Red Crescent Society and the Relief Committee.”
He asked the public that if they encounter such cases, they should report the announced account numbers and card numbers to the complaints and public objections section of the Prosecutor General’s Cyberspace Affairs website “so that these accounts can be blocked immediately.”
The Deputy Prosecutor General warned recognized individuals and figures: “If action is taken, accounts will be blocked and collected funds will be confiscated and handed over to the mentioned organizations, so refrain from any action in this regard.”
So far, most aid and assistance has come from the people themselves. One memorable example was the wave of public aid to the earthquake victims of Kermanshah two years ago. But apparently this too has now become a subject of investigation.
Ali Daei, a beloved figure in Iranian football, told Khabar Online that despite these warnings he will rush to help the people and hopes that “the government officials themselves will do their duty” so that there will be no need for him and others like him to do such work. He said: “We will go and if we can do something we will help. God willing, the government will be ahead of all of us in coming to the aid of the people.”
Source: DW
