Maysan district chief urges oil minister to prioritize local hiring in petroleum projects

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The head of Busiyya subdistrict in Iraq's southern Maysan province has asked Oil Minister Bassim Allabedi to give local residents hiring priority in oil projects operating inside the subdistrict. Hayif Salih Muzayhir said oil companies carrying out work within Busiyya's boundaries have continued to bring in personnel, contractors and subcontractors from outside the province. Muzayhir said Busiyya's residents have long struggled with limited resources and a worsening economy, noting that the subdistrict sits on desert land far from the provincial capital. He added that oil discoveries in the area over the past two years raised hopes of improved living conditions, but that the hiring practices of state and private companies have so far fallen short of local expectations. The subdistrict chief said residents do not oppose the right of other Iraqis to work, but asked that employment, supply, civil works and security contracts be directed first to people living in the zones where petroleum projects are carried out. He cited a previous instruction issued when Allabedi served as deputy minister responsible for extraction operations, in which a security company was told to give contract priority to local residents, and said the directive was not enforced in practice. According to an April 10, 2026 statement from Iraq's Ministry of Planning, Maysan has the country's highest poverty rate, at 43.6 percent.