A partially built concrete structure stands on land designated for residential investment in Najaf governorate, illustrating complaints by investors that temporary buildings are erected to claim compensation before project implementation.
Najaf investors say squatters exploit licensing delays to demand compensation
NAJAF — Housing investors in Najaf say gaps between granting investment licenses and the start of construction are being exploited by squatters who erect temporary structures to claim long-term occupancy and demand compensation before leaving project sites.
Investors said information about newly approved residential projects circulates quickly, prompting some people to rush to build makeshift homes or caravans on designated land and later assert they have lived there for years. Weak enforcement by municipal authorities often leaves investors to resolve the issue themselves.
Investor Imad Sakar praised support from Gov. Youssef Kanawi for investment activity but called for stronger pressure on the municipality to remove what Iraqi officials term “encroachments.”
“Encroachments have turned into a clear trading activity,” Sakar told 964media. “As soon as the investment license is granted, some people begin attracting others under the pretext that the investor is coming, then place a tent or a few blocks to obtain financial compensation that may reach 10 million dinars ($6,667) or more, causing the number of encroachers to grow from 10 to 200 during the licensing procedures.”
Sakar said anyone without a valid land deed or legal contract is considered an encroacher under Iraqi law. “This is a clear encroachment on state property, prohibited legally,” he said.
He said municipal action has been slow. “The role of the municipality in some instances was weak and did not witness real removal of encroachments except after long follow-ups that sometimes reached a full week to remove a single caravan, while there were more than 10 encroaching houses and more than 40 cases of random construction without any legal title deed,” he said.
Sakar said investors can face hostility. “The investor is left alone to face these encroachments and is sometimes subjected to insult or assault, despite holding an official investment license protected by law and bringing capital to serve the city,” he said.
He said conditions differ in nearby Karbala. “The investment environment in other governorates such as Karbala is more organized, where land is delivered empty and free of encroachments, unlike what happens in Najaf,” he said. Sakar questioned compensation payments to squatters “that reached 3.7 billion dinars ($2.47 million) despite the expiration of their contracts years ago.”
Bashar al-Sudani, media director of Najaf Municipality, told 964media that “the Najaf Municipality carries out daily and periodic encroachment removal works, especially those located on investment project lands.” He said northern areas of the governorate are seeing increased residential investment, “which requires the municipality to remove all encroachments and hand over affiliated lands to investors according to official procedures.”