The newspapers issued today, Sunday, 13th of August, focused on the Council of Ministers’ decision to form the Supreme Council for Youth and the issue of state real estate.

Al-Zawraa newspaper, which is published by the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, quoted the Prime Minister, Muhammad al-Sudani, as saying during his presidency of the special session of the Council of Ministers on the occasion of International Youth Day: “I congratulate the young women and men of Iraq on the anniversary of International Youth Day corresponding to August 12, and I welcome the youth representatives to the special session held on this occasion, to discuss their ideas and proposals.

He added, “Recently, the National Conference for Youth Dialogue was held, which is a distinguished youth effort. For the first time, the dialogue is open to a large group of young people, exceeding 25,000 young men and women, who presented their ideas and proposals on various issues via electronic communication.”

He continued, “These ideas and proposals have reached the Council of Ministers for study and discussion in this special session,” pointing out that “Iraq is a young country, which requires more planning for the optimal investment of young energies.”

He pointed out that “60% of Iraq’s population is under the age of twenty-five, and this puts us in front of a great responsibility that requires us to present mechanisms, action plans and policies that serve this important segment.”

He added, “Our youth have suffered for decades, due to wars, siege, and terrorism, and they are the group that has been most harmed, and the first group that made sacrifices for the sake of the homeland,” adding: “Today, the state is required, with all its powers, to present plans and programs that improve the reality of youth.”

He pointed out that “the government has put this commitment in its ministerial program, and is working on it in various fields and sectors, the results of which are in the interest of youth and addressing their issues,” stressing that “the most important youth issues are employment and the provision of job opportunities, and work cannot be limited to government employment.”

He continued his speech by saying: “We, as a state, must make alternative options and support them with legislation, decisions and facilities that enable our youth to engage in the labor market by creating opportunities and projects,” stressing that “the state is serious about supporting the private sector and establishing strategic projects in various sectors, which include providing thousands of job opportunities for all young people.”

He pointed out that “the responsibility of the state is to empower young people, as they will be in the future in the highest decision-making positions,” congratulating “the outstanding students in the final exams of the secondary school stage.”

He concluded by saying, “We stand with respect to the cases of superiority despite the health, living, service and social conditions, and this is the force that we rely on in shaping the future of the new Iraq.”

In the meantime, the Council of Ministers decided, in its extraordinary session held on the occasion of International Youth Day, to form the Supreme Council for Youth.

The media office of the Prime Minister stated, in a statement: “The Prime Minister, Muhammad al-Sudani, chaired an extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers on the occasion of International Youth Day August 12, and at the beginning of the session, he blessed all Iraqi youth on the occasion of International Youth Day, and the government’s keenness to made it an occasion to find out about their issues and adopt their ideas and proposals through the special session that was held for this purpose.

The Prime Minister offered “congratulations and blessings to the students who excelled in the final exams of preparatory studies,” referring to “special cases of excellence and standing in front of them with a stand of respect, as their owners achieved excellence despite their economic health conditions, and described them as the strength that Iraq relies on in building its future.”

Al-Sudani stressed that “the state has a great responsibility to care for young people, who make up 60% of the population of Iraq, by setting plans and programs that advance their reality,” referring to “the ministerial program that entailed the state’s commitment to youth care, and the government’s direction towards activating the private sector and other sectors.” The vital activity that helps provide thousands of job opportunities for young people and secure a decent life for them.”

He continued: “The session witnessed the hosting of a group of young people, representatives of the participants in the National Conference for Youth Dialogue, which was held recently in Baghdad, and they put forward their ideas during the session, and a detailed discussion took place of 64 proposals related to a number of youth issues, which is the result of what the youth agreed upon.

The Prime Minister directed that “the proposals be approved in the regular session of the Council of Ministers that will be held next Tuesday, after studying them in detail and taking into account the ministers’ remarks that were recorded in today’s session.”

The Council of Ministers decided, according to the statement, to “form the Supreme Council for Youth, headed by the Prime Minister, the Minister of Youth and Sports as a deputy, and the membership of the Ministers of Planning, Finance, Labor, Social Affairs, Education, Higher Education, Scientific Research and Culture, the Advisor for Youth Affairs in the Council of Ministers, the Coordinator of Provincial Affairs, and a civil society organization specialized in affairs Young. The Prime Minister may decide to name the members of the Council.

Al-Sabah newspaper focused on the issue of state real estate and said that the Finance Committee, headed by Atwan Al-Atwani and in the presence of a number of its members, hosted yesterday, Saturday, the Director General of the State Real Estate Department, Nadia Rashid, and the Assistant Director General, Alia Nizar to discuss the state’s real estate file, at the committee’s headquarters.

A statement by the House of Representatives Media Department stated that “the committee chairman stated that there are a number of observations that constitute a great responsibility that necessitates following up on the procedures of the State Real Estate Department regarding them.”

Al-Atwani stressed “the need to develop a feasibility study for investing in lands belonging to the state in order to reach results that are in the public interest,” revealing that “many projects have stopped due to the failure to conclude contracts for their implementation by the concerned authorities,” calling for “finding a clear vision for the institution to benefit from these real estate for the public treasury.”

For her part, the Director General of the State Real Estate Department, Nadia Rasheed, confirmed “working to solve the existing problems according to steps to be taken,” noting the development of proposals to amend the internal system of the department, and also revealed a “preliminary inventory of real estate, while the final inventory is done in coordination with the real estate registry “.

She stated that “we are working to complete the system to solve a lot of red tape and eliminate corruption, based on the law and acting in the public interest.”

During the hosting, the committee emphasized “finding a clear mechanism for investing state lands and how to use them in accordance with the economic vision, as well as a feasibility study to determine the rental of residential real estate, finding an economic philosophy in the rental process, and the exploitation of unoccupied lands, in addition to the importance of carrying out administrative reforms in the State Real Estate Department, in order to develop this sector.

The committee requested “an inventory of all state properties and their classification, as part of non-oil revenues, in addition to the revenues generated from renting those properties.”

Meanwhile, committee member Adnan Al-Zorfi said: “State real estate has no plans to invest its real estate properly, and the Finance Committee, in its meeting with state real estate, focused on drawing up an investment map for all lands under the powers of state real estate and the ownership of the Ministry of Finance.”

He called for “developing a clear map for land investment for a period of 50 years,” noting that “administrative problems, dismantling ministerial intersections, and organizing the relationship between departments are the prerogatives of the Minister of Finance.”

Al-Zorfi added, “Our vision in the Finance Committee lies in the fact that we look forward to having an economic map for the exploitation of lands that fall under the authority of the Ministry of Finance, and investing them properly that helps develop national investment.”

He pointed out that “the links between the authorities require an administrative organization, but the most important thing is that these real estate and lands be invested for economic purposes that are beneficial to the country.”

Al-Zaman newspaper focused on the heat wave that Iraq is exposed to and said: “Since the heat wave entered two days ago, the cities of Iraq have been living in a blazing and humid atmosphere during which temperatures exceeded half the boiling degree.

The General Authority for Meteorology and Seismic Monitoring, affiliated to the Ministry of Transport, suggested that the dangers of the heat wave would disappear, starting next Tuesday.

The authority’s spokesman, Amer Al-Jabri, said that “the heat wave started the day before yesterday, and will continue until next Monday, when its impact will be on the central and southern regions”, stressing that “the most temperature-recording region was Khanaqin district, with 52.5 degrees Celsius”. He added that “on Tuesday, there will be a drop in temperatures”.

In turn, weather forecaster Sadiq Attia wrote on his Facebook page yesterday that “the wave of humidity continues to affect Basra Governorate and the rest of the southern cities for a period that extends to the next two weeks, with a temporary shift in the direction of surface winds.”

He added “as for the current heat wave, it is expected to continue until the last third or the end of the current month of August, in the event that the situation of the air system does not change”.

He pointed out that “showers of rain will fall in areas of Basra, Samawah desert, and western Anbar.” And temperatures in Iraq continue to rise due to the wave of the Indian tongue known as anthrax, which cover the country and the region for weeks.

Weather developments indicate that Iraq will continue to be exposed to a heat wave that reaches its climax in the middle of the week, with temperatures in Baghdad and the rest of the central cities during the day ranging between 50-51 degrees Celsius, and slightly less in the north and west of the country.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency