Iran:Sugar cane companies confiscated land farmers in Ahwaz
A video has been circulating among the Ahwazi Arab activists showing the locals complaining about sugarcane project and describe it as the reason behind unemployment, homelessness and disease in the region.Residents of Alkhaddriaat village in Fallahieh southeast of Ahwaz say that their land has been occupied for the sugar cane project , it has not created job opportunities for them and it had effected the quality of drinkable water, forcing them to bring water from other areas located dozens of kilometers away .
People say that the sugar cane project does not employ locals, and although there is a workforce , the management has always relied on burning the field . Sugar cane field burning is carried out before harvesting the cane to make the process easier and require less manual labor.
Burning the excess herbs and leaves to facilitate the process of harvesting is a method that has been put aside due to its negative environmental affects
Local residents say that their families and especially their children have been subjected to a lot of smoke, causing them respiratory diseases and a number of which are now under treatment in hospitals. sugar cane contractors have not even pay the workers their salaries to enable them to complete the treatment of their loved ones.
Despite many protests and calls by civilians and local officials ,this project has been taken its course in regardless of the environmental devastation that it has brought about.
Mr.Ismael Birghani the mayor of Ahwaz city has stated that burning the sugar cane fields is a big mistake adding that the ashes and the smoke produced by this process has doubled the air pollution in Ahwaz and severely effected the health of its citizens.
likewise ,Mr. Khalaf Mosawi the head of Ahwaz municipality Considered the ashes produced by these fires are endangering the environment.
Mr.Ali Bani Akaba ,the director of environment management in Ahwaz denounced this process and stated that for years he has been following the matter in order to put a stop to the pollution caused by sugar cane plantation project ,but unfortunately this dossier had little advancement in the court and basically it was a dead end .
Dr. hassan Mezraii a law professor in”Chamran” university has previously stated in “Hamshahri” newspaper that if the activities of a certain industry is damaging the health of the local population and it has created diseases ,people do have the power to file a lawsuit against those factories ,regardless to whether the environment is contaminated or not .
According to the law , the industries can buy lands from private owners and in case the land does not have an owner ,they need the authorization of the institute for natural resources.
Recently Mr. Korush Bahadori the head of weather forecast center in Khuzestan province has announced the possibility of acid rains in Ahwaz and although he did not clarify the reasons for the acid rains , the smoke and ashes of the burned sugar cane fields are believed to be one of the main reasons .
see video: https://youtu.be/Ik-A0QzFyMA
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