MIDEASTENVIRONET - The Middle East Environmental Network

According to published information, the Ministry of Water purchased a plot
of land, two miles south of the QAIA, in 1998 after concluding an environmental
assessment that year supporting such location for the establishment of a
water treatment plant.

The land, 279,000sq.m., was purchased at a time when land prices were low,
possibly one-tenth if not less, of their current prices, and real estate
development was sparse in that region.

Currently, land prices in the area reach over JD1 million per hectare, as
investors flocked to the area with residential and commercial projects. The
airport is being expanded at a cost of JD500 million to handle nine million
passengers annually. The executive branch of government was asked to work on
improving the area around the airport because it is the main point of entry
into the country by air.

Environmental reports indicate that the planned treatment plant may create
brackish water and bird concentrations that may threaten the safety of
passengers and planes.

The location of the plant is close to Qasr Al Mushatta, a tourist site that
has no equal among the desert palaces of the region. The smell of the chosen
site would pollute the air and scenery in an area that is supposed to highlight
the beauty and modernity of Jordan — the airport and the lands surrounding is
the first impression a traveller receives of the country.

The water may seep into areas that will host 16,000 housing units (80,000
citizens), plus thousands of other units that are planned there.

The Ministry of Environment already addressed the Ministry of Water in an
official communiquי indicating that based on a technical assessment by the
Ministry of Environment, the chosen location is in close proximity of
residential areas and the airport, which could endanger air traffic.

The Ministry of Environment requested that a new environmental assessment be
conducted. The old assessment was conducted nine years ago (Jordan did not
have a Ministry of Environment back then) and, therefore, according to Jordanian
law, it is no longer valid.

The Ministry of Water is showing reservations because the relocation would
cost an additional JD2 million of the reported plant cost of JD44 million.
However, a win-win solution does exist. The land can be sold to investors and over
JD10 million can be made in capital gains to the Ministry of Water, which can be
applied to the cost of relocation to the new site; the government could save
JD8 million, and the environment around the airport could be, thus, safeguarded.

What is truly baffling is that the GAM has already circulated a well
thought-out plan regarding Greater Amman, showing current and planned residential,
commercial, industrial and agricultural concentrations.

The plan has been distributed and made available on the GAM website. Several
public meetings have taken place and presentations have been made of the GAM
plan and strategy, and discussions spanned hours. Therefore, to claim that
the content of the plan is unknown is inexcusable. Placing the water treatment
plant in such close proximity to what has become known as Jordan’s
“investment corridor” could deteriorate the gargantuan efforts undertaken so far to
attract investment to one of the hottest spots in the Kingdom.

Maybe government agencies should talk among themselves, and talk environment
first, not because environment is a luxury but because it is a guarantee of
a safer and better future and a more refined quality of life. Nine million
travellers will be coming (currently six million) to Jordan through the QAIA
every year. We really do not want the first thing they see as a sign of the
development of the Kingdom a water treatment plant, never mind smell it.