Local residents of Grr-Ozer (also known as Qahtaniya),a sub-district associated with the predominantly Ezidi populated town of Shingal (Sinjar) west of Mosul have selected a new sub-district commissioner to replace Shakr Mulhim, who resigned on April 19, 2019 a year, nearly a year and half after taking office.
Jalal Khalaf assumed his position as acting commissioner on April 23.
“We wanted to fill the administrative vacuum which was created after the resignation of the former commissioner; therefore we chose Jalal Khalaf Piso to assume the position and serve the area”, Sahir Khalaf, a local resident of Grr-Ozer told KirkukNow.
He criticized the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for neglecting Shingal and its surrounding areas.
Shakr Mulhim was appointed as sub-district commissioner of Grr-Ozer by the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in the wake of the October 16, 2017 events.
“The legitimate sub-district commissioner of Grr-Ozer has left the town since October 2017 and he currently resides in the Kurdistan region; as a result we had to choose acting commissioner”, said Sahir.
After taking office, Jalal Khalaf said he was grateful for being chosen by the people in Grr-Ozer as new commissioner, pledging to treat everyone fairly and equally and lay out his plans to serve the people very soon.
The vast majority of the residents of Shingal and its associated sub-districts fled their homes after the Islamic State (IS) group swept into the area in August 2014.
Although the town has been recaptured since November 2015, the lack of basic services in the area is hampering the return of displaced families.
