Nineveh Provincial Council decides to lift construction restrictions on the outskirts of Mosul

An informed source in the Nineveh Provincial Council announced on Tuesday that a series of decisions were taken to lift the construction restrictions imposed on the outskirts of Mosul, following deliberations voted on by the council.

The source clarified, in a statement to [unspecified], that the council voted on a package of decisions and recommendations described as 'decisive', based on the work of a committee formed to examine the requests of citizens prohibited from building on the outskirts of Mosul.

The decisions included obliging Mosul Municipality and all municipalities to immediately grant building permits to every citizen who owns officially registered land, without delay or obstruction, while holding the relevant officials legally and administratively responsible in case of obstructing the transactions.

The decisions also obliged the municipal directorates to immediately commence land leveling works for citizens' owned lands, and to provide a timetable for implementation within a maximum period of thirty days.

The council emphasized that "any prevention of construction under the pretext of demographic change constitutes a violation of the constitution and applicable laws."

Furthermore, the council tasked Mosul Municipality with removing the security berm erected by ISIS on the outskirts of the city within the same period, and assigned the Nineveh Police Commander to form a joint committee to receive citizens' complaints, monitor any interventions, and refer them to the judiciary.

The outskirts of Mosul had witnessed, over the past years, restrictions on granting building permits, some of which were linked to the presence of security berms erected during ISIS's control period.