Shafaq News- Nineveh
Iraq's Shabak community warned onWednesday that more than 150 homes across parts of Nineveh, including theNineveh Plains, could face demolition, while political influence was reportedlyobstructing the removal of unauthorized buildings elsewhere in Mosul.
Mohammed Aref, the council'srepresentative for the Shabak community —an ethnic and religious minorityconcentrated in the Nineveh Plains— told Shafaq News that Mosul Municipalityplans to demolish homes in the villages of Jliyokhan and Qaza Fakhra, as wellas in Kokjali and other parts of the Nineveh Plains.
According to Aref, the homes havebeen inhabited by Shabak families since 1994 but are now slated for demolitionunder expropriation decisions inherited from Iraq's former regime, despiteresidents never having received compensation. He appealed to the prime ministerand parliament speaker to intervene and consider the Shabak's historicalpresence in the area.
"We are not againstthe law, but we demand justice for residents in their hometowns.”
Meanwhile, municipal teams attemptedon Wednesday to remove four unauthorized houses in Al-Samah district east ofMosul, a source in the district administration told Shafaq News. The operationwas halted after a member of the Nineveh Provincial Council intervened andrequested that the occupants be granted at least one week to seek a solution.
The source described Mosul DistrictCommissioner Hisham Al-Hashimi as facing mounting pressure in tacklingencroachment cases because of political patronage and intervention byinfluential parties seeking to block enforcement measures. The official also questionedhow council decisions calling for stricter enforcement could be implementedwhile some members continued to intervene on behalf of violators.
The developments come a day afterthe Nineveh Provincial Council approved a package of measures liftinglong-standing restrictions on construction on legally registered private landon the outskirts of Mosul as part of efforts to resolve a land dispute thatintensified after the defeat of ISIS.
The measures require municipalitiesto issue building permits to owners holding officially registered freeholdproperty titles, begin land-leveling work, remove security barriers erectedduring the ISIS conflict, and hold officials accountable for obstructingimplementation. Aref announced plans to challenge the decision before Iraq'sadministrative and Federal courts, arguing that it overlooks constitutionalprotections for minority-populated areas in the Nineveh Plains.
: Nineveh Council lifts building restrictions on Mosul outskirts amid demographic dispute
