Water pollution leads to Himmeh demolition
Jordan Times
June 1, 2007
Samir Ghawi
AMMAN -- The environmental pollution worsened so much at the Himmeh tourist resort that the company operating the site had no choice but to demolish the whole facility.
"The Himmeh facility was operated intermittently during 2006 as the site was closed several times by the official health and environment authorities because the water at the resort was contaminated by wastewater leaking from cesspools of private houses adjacent to the tourist area," the Jordan Himmeh Mineral Company said in its 42nd annual report.
The report added that in light of repeated closures by the authorities, the decline in the resort's operations and the deteriorating financial and technical situation, the company's board of directors decided to permanently shut down the facility.
The shutdown in September 2006 included the termination of services of 15 workers, selling all assets and tearing down the chalets, rooms and other service buildings in addition to 52 adjacent housing units out of 55 houses -- the cesspools of which were contaminating the springwater of the resort.
Up until the end of 2006, the company bought and paid JD656,000 in compensation to the owners of the evacuated houses. The remaining three homeowners have adamantly refused to sell and evacuate their houses and hand them over to the company, prompting the firm to take their cases to the Jordan Valley Authority.
According to the annual report, the Jordan Himmeh Mineral Company conducts monthly testing to determine the quality of the springwater.
"The testing results showed improvement in water quality especially after the rainfalls," the company asserted.
"This proves that the housing units around the resort's spring and the waste from those residences were a main cause of the water pollution," it elaborated.
Financially, the operational earnings declined from JD108,121 in 2005 to JD67,243 in 2006. After taking other incomes and expenses into consideration, the end result was a JD156,313 loss compared to JD19,406 profit in 2006.
Prior to its closure, Himmeh, with its modest facilities, was the sole resort in the north of the Kingdom visited by Jordanians and tourists seeking therapeutic treatment with its mineral water.
At present, the company has entrusted a specialised firm to prepare the necessary designs and plans to rebuild and develop the resort in light of higher prices for building materials.
Under a JD10 million future development scheme, Jordan Himmeh Mineral Company will be building a 4-star hotel consisting of 136 rooms and other supportive facilities.
Zara Investment and its subsidiaries own 278,886 shares of the company's 500,000 shares/dinars capital.