Zaidi orders ministries to speed up million-plot scheme as applications open

BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi told ministries and governorates to accelerate work on the scheme to distribute a million residential plots, on the day applications opened and with the financing for building on them still unresolved.

Zaidi chaired a meeting of the initiative’s higher committee reviewing implementation across the governorates and progress in subdividing and allocating land, his media office said. He directed officials to “expedite the completion of procedures related to the initiative and move forward with its implementation,” saying it was meant to address the housing crisis and give people access to adequate housing. Plots go to families that do not own property or residential land.

Applications opened Tuesday, with more than 250,000 plots secured for the first phase — a quarter of the target. How recipients will pay to build is not settled. Construction and Housing Ministry spokesperson Nabil al-Saffar said last week that discussion of including the land in Housing Fund loans was “still premature,” while government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi said lending mechanisms were under study with banks.

Applicants will be checked against property records, with the Justice Ministry building a national database of owners. The scheme covers governorates outside the Kurdistan Region.