3.4 million Iraqis live in slums, most of them in Baghdad

[size=52]3.4 million Iraqis live in slums, most of them in Baghdad[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad/ Firas Adnan[/size]
[size=45]Yesterday, Sunday, the Ministry of Planning confirmed that about 3.4 million Iraqis live in slums, stressing that the largest proportion of them are concentrated in Baghdad, calling on the House of Representatives to expedite the approval of a bill presented by the government in the previous session that addresses this phenomenon.[/size]
[size=45]Ministry spokesman Abdul-Zahra Al-Hindawi said, in an interview with Al-Mada, that "the number of slums, according to the last official survey conducted three years ago, was about 4,000 throughout Iraq."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Hindawi added, "All governorates contain slums, but Baghdad occupies the first place in terms of number, with up to 1,000 slums, followed by Basra with 700 slums, and with the same number came Nineveh Governorate."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that "the number of slums in the rest of the governorates varies between 300 and 500 complexes, up to the least, which are Najaf governorates with 99 complexes and Karbala with 98 complexes."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Hindawi pointed out that "the number of slum dwellers reaches 3.4 million people, distributed over 522,000 housing units in these complexes."[/size]
[size=45]He noted, "The ministry has previously completed an integrated plan to address informal housing in Iraq in coordination with the United Nations Human Settlements Program."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Hindawi stressed, "This plan needed a law to be enacted by the House of Representatives for the procedures that should be implemented in this context."[/size]
[size=45]He continues, "The government had previously submitted a law to Parliament in the previous session, which completed its first and second readings, but it was not voted on due to the end of the session."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Hindawi hopes that "the current parliament will give priority to the law that includes coverage and a complete solution to the problem of slums by interfering in the treatment of cases."[/size]
[size=45]And he talked about “a survey that will be conducted for all slums to determine the nature of each of them and then indicate the type of intervention required to treat them, whether by rehabilitating them or acquiring lands for their residents if they do not represent a violation of certain determinants, or they will be given the appropriate alternative in other areas.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Hindawi went on to say, “The treatment takes into account the civilized appearance of Baghdad and other areas in the governorates, because we will, as a result, face paths and directions in dealing with one of the most serious development problems in Iraq.”[/size]
[size=45]For his part, the economic expert, Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani, stated, in an interview with Al-Mada, that “constructing residential complexes does not solve the problem of slums because they are not designed for people with specific incomes, but for people with medium and high incomes, and they need loans from commercial banks and involve difficult conditions.” .[/size]
[size=45]Al-Mashhadani continued, "The simple citizen cannot provide the guarantees required by the purchase process in the residential complexes that are currently being talked about in the media."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, "The price of a housing unit in residential complexes is very high, and a simple citizen cannot meet its price, and sometimes it reaches 200 million dinars."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Mashhadani explained, "Iraq has not yet developed serious plans to resolve the issue of slums or complete them, by providing alternative housing for its residents."[/size]
[size=45]And he added, “One of the reasons for the survival of slums is the promises made by candidates with each election that they will seek to tend to their residents, even though they know that the lands on which these slums were established do not belong to the Ministry of Finance but to institutions and were allocated to projects or are private property of individuals.”[/size]
[size=45]In addition, the other economist, Mustafa Akram Hantoush, finds, in a comment to (Al-Mada), that "the biggest problems relate to the slums that are concentrated in city centers, other than those located on the outskirts, since the latter does not touch the vital city facilities."[/size]
[size=45]Hantoush stated, "The expansion of the slum phenomenon is caused by the large expansion of the population, and the trend towards uncalculated construction away from official oversight."[/size]
[size=45]And he called for “legislative intervention to amend effective laws that would help in the establishment of low-cost housing units to be granted to the real beneficiaries, after providing real guarantees that confirm that they belong to the poor class and that they do not have their own housing.”[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that the phenomenon of slums spread remarkably after 2003 as a result of the absence of oversight, and some of them became a den for organized crimes such as drugs, theft and kidnapping.[/size]
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