Death of a Contractor in Qom Due to Self-Immolation in Front of Municipality

The head of the Burn Injury Center in Isfahan reported the death of a contractor who had self-immolated in the courtyard of the Qom municipality. Fereydoun Abedini stated on Tuesday, August 14, that this individual lost his life on Sunday evening, and efforts to save him were unsuccessful. Abedini announced that the burn percentage of this person was over 90%, adding that 'saving patients with such a burn percentage is not possible even in the best burn treatment centers in the world.' This contractor, identified as 'Sheikh Alizadeh,' reportedly self-immolated on Saturday, August 12, following some disputes with the municipality of District 2 of this city. Hamidreza Abedi, the director of public relations and international affairs of the Qom municipality, had stated hours after the self-immolation that 'the contractor's life was not in danger.' Abedi further claimed that 'the burn percentage [of this individual] is not very critical and nothing specific has occurred for him.' Reza Rahimi, the mayor of District 2 of Qom, reacted to the self-immolation by saying, 'The debts of the contractor who self-immolated on Saturday were related to the past and have been penalized based on the general conditions of the contract.' Rahimi pointed out that the Qom municipality owes money to contractors and added, 'The payment process to contractors is on the agenda of the Qom municipality, and we hope that with the planning that has been done, it will gradually be resolved.' Hassan Bakhtiari, the vice president of the fourth council of Qom, also commented that 'there are a few employees and middle managers in the municipality who have caused dissatisfaction among the people and contractors regarding the performance of the Qom municipality.' The local newspaper '19 Day' in Qom published a report on the disputes between contractors and the Qom municipality following this incident, stating that 'the fire of despair has fallen upon the contractors of the Qom municipality.' The newspaper quoted Mehdi Simorgh, CEO of the 'Ganjineh Sazan Simorgh' company, which is a contractor for the Qom municipality, stating that the municipality has not paid his claims since 2014. This contractor added, 'My claims from the municipality are left unpaid... my insurance money has not been paid... my bank accounts are frozen, and my machinery has stopped.' The newspaper '19 Day' reported that this individual has claims of over one billion tomans from the Qom municipality and knows others who have claims of seven billion tomans or more. Ali Taghavi, another contractor owed money by the Qom municipality, stated in an interview with this newspaper that his claims from the years 2015 and 2016 remain unpaid. He added, 'The reputation of all contractors in Qom has been ruined. All the old contractors have gone to other cities, and we who remain are here because of our old claims. They do not even allow us the right to protest...' Mehdi Darabi, another contractor owed money by the Qom municipality, told 19 Day that the municipality 'terminated his contract without any reason, solely because he protested the delay in the payment of his rights.' In recent years, reports have emerged regarding the non-payment of contractors' claims by municipalities in various cities.