ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Preparation has begun to build the al-Jazeera (Island) Irrigation Project in Shingal (Sinjar) that will irrigate one million acres of farmland and create “tens of thousands of job opportunities,” an advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on Saturday.
"This is the first strategic project of this kind in the [Shingal] area,” Khalaf Shingali, advisor of the Iraqi PM for Yazidi affairs, told Rudaw. He said that Sudani has approved the blueprints.
The project will irrigate about one million acres of agricultural land and create thousands of job opportunities to support farmers in Shingal to reduce unemployment in the Yazidi heartland, according to the advisor.
Water will be rerouted from the Badush dam on the Tigris River, and will flow to Shingal, Rabia, and Ba'aj in western of Nineveh province.
Shingali said there is a second water-related project that will be implemented in the Shingal region - a drinking water treatment facility.
Shingal, a district in northern Iraq, remains deeply scarred by the 2014 genocide committed by the Islamic State (ISIS) against the Yazidi community. Over 5,000 Yazidis were killed and thousands more were displaced from their homes. The region was liberated in late 2015, but ongoing insecurity, political disputes, and a lack of reconstruction have hindered the return of residents. Despite these challenges, there has been a significant push for recovery in recent years.
The Iraqi government has funded the construction of houses in the district and encouraged the displaced population to return with promises of rebuilding essential infrastructure and providing cash compensation. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani in 2024 approved a series of development projects, including two hospitals, a water management system, and a university.
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