Shafaq News- Najaf
A government circular offering employees of Najaf'sEducation Directorate the opportunity to purchase cemetery plots on installmentsparked controversy on Wednesday, prompting the department's director toannounce it would be revoked.
A copy of the circular obtained by Shafaq News showed thatthe directorate had circulated an offer from a private company to educationstaff to purchase burial plots in a model cemetery through installment paymentsfinanced by a local bank.
Director General Ammar Al-Arabawi said the circular had beenissued without his knowledge while he was on leave and traveling abroad, addingthat it had been signed by his administrative deputy. "I will revoke thecircular upon returning to official duty," Al-Arabawi told Shafaq News,adding that disciplinary measures would be taken against those responsible. Hesaid the directorate was working to improve the welfare of its employeesthrough measures such as allocating residential land plots, "not cemeteryplots."
A source in the Najaf Provincial Council told Shafaq Newsthe council would summon the education director and senior officials to explainthe circumstances surrounding the issuance of the circular. The source addedthat council members had previously questioned other official correspondenceissued by the directorate that the director later said had been releasedwithout his knowledge.
Najaf is home to Wadi Al-Salam, one of the world's largestcemeteries, and has established additional model cemeteries in recent years tomeet growing demand for burial plots.
: Wadi Al Salam: Najaf’s ever-growing city of the dead
