JORDANIAN / ISRAELI COOPERATION AT SOUTHERN DEAD SEA
FOEME
Mayor of Tamar Regional Council, Israel and Governor of South Ghores, Jordan
Sign on MoU to Advance Sustainable Development in the Southern Dead Sea Basin
January 18, 2007
Yesterday, at the initiation of Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME), a
Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Mayor of the Tamar Regional
Council in Israel, Mr. Dov Litvinoff and the Governor of South Ghores in
Jordan, Mr. Ghaleb Al-Shamayleh.
The MoU was signed with the understanding that cooperation is necessary in order
to promote sustainable development in the Southern Dead Sea Basin.
According to Dov Litvinoff, Mayor of the Tamar Regional Council, “the signing on
the MoU is a breakthrough in regional cooperation between us and the Jordanians
on issues of environment, quality of life and raising awareness of the general
environmental issues at the Dead Sea”. Mr. Litvinoff added that “the Regional
Council has declared 2007 as the year of environmental protection and regional
cooperation.”
The Dead Sea Basin is suffering from severe environmental degradation:
• The dramatic decline of the Dead Sea causes the formation of sinkholes to
appear, endangering lives of those in the area.
• Use of fertilizers that have not been properly composted, mainly on the
Jordanian side of the border, creates a significant fly problem.
• Without a border crossing in the area, tourism development and cross border
trade is being delayed.
The mayors, in signing the MoU, have identified the social and ecological
importance of the Dead Sea area, and see its inscription for a UNESCO World
Heritage Site as an important mechanism to rehabilitate the area.
In addition, they promise to work towards finding sustainable solutions to the
economic and environmental issues at hand, through the building of a compost
station, the building of an ecological cross border Peace Park at the Southern
end of the Dead Sea, and call for the opening of an additional border crossing
to promote tourism and trade crossing.
Gidon Bromberg, Israeli director of Friends of the Earth Middle East, says “this
MoU confirms the need to solve the environmental problems at the Dead Sea and
proves the ability of the communities in the area to rise above political
difficulties and work together.”