SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The General Director of Agriculture in Sulaimani warned of high kerosene prices for the upcoming winter which might lead the people to cut down forests as a substitute to heat up.
Director of Agriculture Shalaw Jamal in Sulaimani in a statement told Esta Media Network that electricity, kerosene, and gas are substitutes for each other, warning if their prices soar up there is an imminent threat of “cutting down the forests” in the Kurdistan Region.
The Director said that so far we have received no call from the people regarding cutting down the trees in the forests, adding, “If such cases have been seen we will take strict legal measures.”
He also stressed if the heater sources prices have gone up “part of the people are going to cut down the forests similar to what we have seen in the 90s when the Kurdistan Region was under siege because finally, wood is the substitute to other sources.”
Kerosene is the most common type of heater in the Kurdistan Region. And yet three months ahead before the Kurdistan Region steps into the cold season, however, at this point, the price per barrel of kerosene has reached 184$ while the summer is yet to be over.
The worldwide crisis of sky-rocketing energy prices is expected to hit the Kurdistan Region severely soon, with reaching into the winter the heater sources prices could be costly.