Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq has paused approvals for new residential investment projects, theNational Investment Commission said on Sunday, as authorities review anationwide housing plan aimed at distributing land plots across the country.
The order, issued by acting Commission Head Haidar Mohammed, is linkedto the “one-million residential land plot” initiative unveiled by Iraq’s PrimeMinister Ali al-Zaidi, which targets the country’s chronic housing shortage.
Under the directive, Mohammed instructed investment authorities tocompile a detailed inventory of active and planned projects for review, callingfor swift submission while warning of legal consequences in cases ofnoncompliance.
The housing program, one of the cabinet’s key initiatives, seeks toexpand land distribution and support housing development across the country. Last week, al-Zaidi invited private sector companies and business leaders toparticipate in the scheme, which also includes allocating portions of bordercustoms revenues and electricity fees to help finance the project.
Iraq has faced a long-standing housing deficit, with the Ministry ofConstruction, Housing and Municipalities estimating a need for about fivemillion additional housing units to meet rising demand. Since 2003, successivegovernments have introduced a series of housing initiatives and large-scaleresidential projects aimed at narrowing the gap, though most have fallen shortof their targets, leaving the crisis largely unresolved.
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