Diyala readies 44K housing plots under Watan Initiative

Shafaq News- Diyala

Iraq’s Diyala province has prepared land for approximately 44,000 residential plots under the nationwide Watan Initiative but is awaiting instructions from Baghdad before proceeding with their subdivision and distribution, Deputy Governor Hassan Al-Jubouri told Shafaq News on Sunday.

Al-Jubouri, who oversees technical affairs, explained that authorities had completed procedures to lift agricultural reform restrictions on 7,500 dunams across the province, paving the way for the next phase of the program.

The Watan Initiative aims to provide one million free residential plots to eligible Iraqi families. On Saturday, Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi laid the foundation stone in Karbala, the first province selected to implement the program. According to government figures released in late September, the initiative covers 121 cities across 15 provinces, with procedures completed for 275,000 residential plots.

Iraq has faced a housing shortage for decades, with the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Municipalities estimating that the country needs around five million additional housing units to meet growing demand.

1 Iraqi dunam = 2,500 m²

Read more: Iraq’s latest land distribution plan faces legacy of unfinished projects