Alviri: Corruption in Tehran Municipality has become 'institutionalized'

Morteza Alviri, a member of Tehran's City Council, states that the level of 'violations and corruption' within the capital's municipality is comparable to 'small change in people's pockets' and that 'corruption' has become institutionalized in this organization. On Tuesday, August 14, he told ISNA news agency: 'The case of the 'astronomical properties' was the tip of the iceberg that emerged from the ocean.' He described the issue of 'corruption' in Tehran's municipality as going beyond the illegal allocation of a few apartments to certain individuals, stating that 'we are facing institutionalized corruption in Tehran Municipality.' Alviri elaborated on the examples of this 'corruption': 'Corruption in allocations, tenders, and the employment of inefficient personnel at managerial levels, as well as the employment of retired individuals who have been brought from other organizations to Tehran Municipality.' Regarding what he termed 'the debts of Tehran Municipality during the fourth council,' he said: 'The most significant challenge for Tehran Municipality is its financial receipts and payments. Unfortunately, the statistics and figures presented by the current mayor of Tehran in a television program do not align with the information provided by his deputies in meetings with us.' According to this City Council member, the municipality of Iran's capital has a definite debt of '23.5 trillion tomans,' a figure reported by 'the deputies of {Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf}, the current mayor.' Alviri added that 'in addition to this figure, we must also consider a large number of unfinished projects whose completion costs about 30 trillion tomans... and the pre-sold densities, the exact figures of which yielded no results despite investigations.' He also referred to what he called 'numerous and illegal hires in recent years' within the Tehran municipality, stating that currently, Tehran Municipality has '63,500 personnel.' Alviri criticized the 'multiplication' of costs in Tehran Municipality and stated that the biggest 'challenge' for Mohammad Ali Najafi, the future mayor of Tehran, lies 'in the area of revenues and expenses.' A member of the fifth term of the Islamic City Council of Tehran, Rey, and Tajrish stated that 'based on statistics from various sources, the situation in Tehran is not good and there are serious challenges in various urban management areas,' considering Tehran as 'a patient with a chronic illness' that 'must be urgently treated.' The controversy over 'astronomical properties' refers to a series of revelations and reactions regarding the allocation of several trillion tomans worth of properties to some senior urban managers and certain members of Tehran's City Council. The Architecture News website, led by Yashar Soltani, first reported that Tehran Municipality had allocated properties at astronomical prices with a 50% discount to some municipality managers, City Council members, a member of parliament, a police official, and several security officials in northern Tehran. This issue, which emerged shortly after the 'astronomical receipts' scandal raised by conservatives against some government employees, overshadowed the political atmosphere of the country for a long time and even extended to the electoral competition of the twelfth presidential elections. Meanwhile, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has repeatedly denied financial allegations directed at himself, his associates, and the Tehran municipality. Following the victory of reformists in the fifth city council elections, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf must also hand over his position to Mohammad Ali Najafi, the new mayor, who, according to Alviri, has presented his plans to the council to resolve the issues of Tehran and has managed to convince them.