Heater repair shops thrive in Sulaymaniyah amid concerns of poor-quality kerosene

SULAYMANIYAH, January 15 — Sulaymaniyah’s markets for repairing heaters and oil stoves are flourishing amid the cold weather this winter.

One repair told 964media the surge in demand for repairs was due to poor quality kerosene distributed by the government. Officials dispute the claim, however, affirming that subsidized oil undergoes quality control measures before distribution.

Repairman Rebaz Saleh shared, “A large number of locals visit me daily to repair their stoves that break down due to government-distributed oil. The oil quality is not good, and has a high percentage of impurities that affect the wick and the stove’s copper parts.”

“Government oil damages the copper and wick of the stoves and produces a gas smell. As a result, people are forced to constantly replace the wick,” Saleh added.

Diler Zein Al-Din, a government official working in the directorate that distributes oil, said, “The oil distributed to citizens is of high quality, sourced from the Dukan refinery, and passing through three filtration processes before being distributed. So far, no citizen has complained about the distributed oil.”

He added, “We have examined several types of commercial oil available in the markets, and their quality was extremely poor. This is what citizens use in their stoves.”