New bazaar could boost local economy

Sheep eating hay crowd the muddy path across a sewage-flooded street from a falafel food stall, a man selling bananas from a stack of boxes and a shop selling pirate videos. In the completely unregulated economy these days, the new Baghdad neighbourhood outdoor market bustles with activity. Cars jostle for positions along the narrow street as pedestrians try to avoid puddles and animal excrement. Now, the International Relief and Development (IRD) NGO, which more commonly deals with humanitarian concerns like food distribution and school repair, is getting ready to step into the market fray. In what might be the most capitalist take yet on humanitarian aid in Iraq, IRD plans to build a new market in a former training ground of “fedeyeen Saddam,” elite fighters under the former regime. The training ground is less than a block away from the current unregulated stands. Once the US $700,000 project is finished in four or five months, it will be handed over to community leaders to control. “There’s a Mafia running the whole lot at the moment,” Richard Harman, the aid group’s Iraq head, told IRIN in Baghdad. “We’re setting up a community action group to watch over the new market, and it will be a cleaner, healthier place that will attract more business,” he said. A sign on the former fedeyeen Saddam training ground tells passers-by that it’s to be the site of a new market. Rubble from bombed out buildings has recently been cleared to make way for new buildings to go up, according to Sami Dinkha, an IRD worker heading up the project. Perhaps even more important in the scruffy neighbourhood is the infrastructure that will come with the new market, Dinkha said. Construction is to start in two weeks, once building contracts have been approved with Iraqi companies. Workers first are to install sewage drains and water and electric lines. Informal roads across the current dirt patch will be graded and paved. Under current plans, more than 700 market stalls will be built, a similar number to those lining the streets nearby. “I wish for it to succeed, because it will put a lot of people to work,” Dinkha told IRIN. “I think it’s a good project that will serve the area well.” Right now, however, the only people paying any attention to the land are squatters who have moved into a couple of damaged buildings on the periphery. Gunshots rang out nearby during a recent visit but seemed to come from a gun shop trying to sell pistols surreptitiously. “When I talk to people here, they’re really happy they’ll have nice shops to sell their goods instead of the road,” IRD worker, Salam Kaisy, told IRIN. “There will be so many benefits - the environmental situation will be better, security will be better. But vendors aren’t sure they want to move. Several vendors told IRIN they were hopeful they would be allowed to move to the new market, then complained that they should not be forced to change places. Current vendors seem excited when asked what they think about the new project but are unwilling to commit to a place where they may have to pay rent and follow rules laid down by community leaders. “If they tell us to pay more, we will refuse," CD shop owner, Samir Tahib Omar, told IRIN admitting that he currently doesn't pay any rent for a cobbled-together stall with a plastic roof that uses the existing high fence as a back wall. “Unless you give me a guarantee that I will have customers, I will not consider the new place,” he maintained. An outdoor food stall owner on the other side of the argument complained that he had paid large sums of money to run an electrical line and running water to his spot on the street corner. “I paid a lot to fix up this shop, so what’s the solution for me?” asked 23-year-old Ali Shakur, shaking his fist and raising his voice. “That land is not suitable for a market, because it’s on the other side of the bus station. I think it will fail,” he told IRIN. Several neighbourhood meetings have been held in recent months to discuss the new plan, according to Sheikh Fuad al-Timimi, the community leader serving as the contact person on the project. A small rent fee should be charged and go towards other community projects, al-Timimi said, although he did not specify what those would be. “This project may sound unusual for a humanitarian group to do, but it will fix the humanitarian need among people because they’ll have jobs,” al-Timimi told IRIN. Once vendors see how nice the new market is, they’ll want to move, Dinkha said. “I feel comfortable with my place here, so in the future I’ll decide,” Ahmed Ibrahim Sadoon, who sells socks and underwear from a table next to the snack stand, told IRIN. “The new shops sound nice, but I think it’s too far from customers. We’ll see,” he added.