Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi Directs the Launch of Implementation Procedures for the One Million Residential Land Plots Project in Governorates That Have Completed the Allocation of Project Sites ••••• Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi chaired today, Sunday, the fourth session of the Higher Commission for Coordination among Provinces, which discussed service, economic, and living conditions in the governorates. The session was attended by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Justice, Agriculture, Education, and Youth and Sports; the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff; the governors and chairpersons of provincial councils; the Mayor of Baghdad; the Chairman of the Advisory Commission; and a number of advisors. At the outset of the session, the Prime Minister affirmed the government’s determination to address the current economic challenges, which have been affected by regional developments, stressing the need for prudent management of public funds and intensified efforts to overcome these difficulties. The Prime Minister added that the government’s success in pursuing these reforms is also a success for the provincial governments, emphasizing the need to devote particular attention to the most affected and underserved governorates, whose continued hardship cannot be accepted under any circumstances. The session discussed the issues and resolutions included on its agenda and adopted the necessary decisions. In the housing sector, and in order to move forward with the One Million Residential Land Plots Project, whose implementation procedures will commence on September 1, 2026, the meeting approved, based on the presentation by the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, that governors finalize the identification of land and follow up on procedures to remove agricultural reform restrictions, change land classifications, complete the required designs, and transfer ownership to the municipalities. It was also decided that the designated land should have the fewest possible conflicts, existing structures, and agricultural contracts. Maximum use should be made of new city projects in the governorates that have not yet been awarded, as well as land designated for residential investment that is currently under consideration by the investment commissions. The designated land should also be located near service infrastructure and within the future urban expansion areas identified in the cities’ master plans. Regarding implementation of the summer agricultural plan for rice cultivation in Diwaniyah Governorate, the meeting approved increasing water releases downstream of the Abbasiya Barrage and the Kufa Barrage, as well as regulating discharges through the Al-Ya’ou Regulator during high- and low-water rotation periods. In the same context, the meeting recommended that the Ministry of Electricity adjust the distribution of electrical loads in areas along the river course to ensure eight hours of electricity per day for water pumps. It also recommended that the Ministry of Water Resources include all distributary canals branching from the Hilla and Diwaniyah rivers in the rotational irrigation system and provide dredging equipment to carry out clearing works along the main river channel and its connected branches. The meeting reviewed measures related to the electricity sector and approved the administrative and technical transfer of the distribution sector to the governorates as part of the implementation of smart solutions in the electricity sector, as well as reconsidering Council of Ministers Resolution No. 1070 of 2025. It was also decided to form a committee chaired by the Chairman of the Advisory Commission and comprising representatives of the relevant entities. The committee will revise the technical model for the privatization of the Ministry of Electricity’s distribution sector and submit its report to the Prime Minister for approval.