Iraq ties fuel permits for private generators outside Baghdad to governorate approval

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's Higher Coordination Committee has decided that fuel allocation permits for private generators outside the capital must be processed through the relevant governorate, a decision reached at the committee's fourth meeting chaired by Prime Minister Ali Fallah al-Zaydi. The meeting reviewed service, economic and salary matters across the provinces. Ministers of foreign affairs, finance, electricity, justice, agriculture, education and water resources, along with governors and provincial council heads, attended the session. The committee ordered the Oil Ministry to stop issuing fuel approvals for private generators in the provinces without first consulting the Baghdad governorate. The committee also required the Oil Ministry to coordinate with the relevant Baghdad-based authority to ensure that fuel permits duly issued by the provinces are implemented. Under the decision, the Baghdad Municipality and related municipal bodies will now be barred from granting permits to install new private generators without governorate approval. The newly approved mechanism centralizes fuel permit oversight and ties provincial approvals to coordination with Baghdad, in an effort to align generator-related fuel distribution with local administrative procedures.