ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Water which flows from Akre town’s resorts have been polluted with trash thrown by tourists. An environmental organisation warns that this could cause a great danger as the water is used for irrigation and livestock watering.
Thousands of tourists, mostly from Iraqi central and southern provinces, visit Akre’s resorts where the weather is mostly cool. Most of these sites have waterfalls whose water is polluted by tourists who throw plastic bottles and other things in the clean water.
The water which comes out of these resorts is used by locals for irrigation of farms and livestock watering but the plastic bottles and other harmful objects could cause health issues to humans who eat produce grown from these farms and animals which drink the water, warns Hazim Ali, head of Waar Environmental Organisation in Akre.
“Water pollution is a great danger because the water is used for irrigation and livestock watering. If the water is polluted, the produce will be bad and animals cannot benefit from the water. People used to drink from this water too but now the tourists pollute it,” he told Rudaw’s Naif Ramazan on Thursday, adding that the water is no longer used for any of the aforementioned purposes.
Local authorities in Akre convened this week to address the issue but they failed to find a solution.
Vael Akreyi, spokesperson for Akre’s tourism department, said they cannot punish those tourists who pollute the water but “we have issued informed them that the water should be kept clear so that people could benefit from it.”
There are over 200 resorts in Duhok province, according to official figures.
Resorts in other parts of the Kurdistan Region also suffer from pollution.
Thousands of tourists, mostly from Iraqi central and southern provinces, visit Akre’s resorts where the weather is mostly cool. Most of these sites have waterfalls whose water is polluted by tourists who throw plastic bottles and other things in the clean water.
The water which comes out of these resorts is used by locals for irrigation of farms and livestock watering but the plastic bottles and other harmful objects could cause health issues to humans who eat produce grown from these farms and animals which drink the water, warns Hazim Ali, head of Waar Environmental Organisation in Akre.
“Water pollution is a great danger because the water is used for irrigation and livestock watering. If the water is polluted, the produce will be bad and animals cannot benefit from the water. People used to drink from this water too but now the tourists pollute it,” he told Rudaw’s Naif Ramazan on Thursday, adding that the water is no longer used for any of the aforementioned purposes.
Local authorities in Akre convened this week to address the issue but they failed to find a solution.
Vael Akreyi, spokesperson for Akre’s tourism department, said they cannot punish those tourists who pollute the water but “we have issued informed them that the water should be kept clear so that people could benefit from it.”
There are over 200 resorts in Duhok province, according to official figures.
Resorts in other parts of the Kurdistan Region also suffer from pollution.
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