16 dairy farms asked to relocate away from residential areas
Jordan Times
By Hana Namrouqa
AMMAN -- The Ministry of Environment has instructed 16 farms in the Ghor to
relocate to areas removed from residential neighbourhoods after repeated
complaints of foul odours being emitted from their premises, a ministry
official said on Saturday.
"Owners of these farms, which produce dairy products, leave animal waste lying
around, instead of transporting it to locations far away from inhabited areas,"
Ministry of Environment Spokesperson Isa Shboul told The Jordan Times yesterday.
With the expansion of urban construction, the farms, located in Dleil, 16
kilometres from Zarqa, are close to residential areas, Shboul added.
These farm owners should have removed the animal waste or sold it to farmers for
agricultural purposes, the official explained.
The farms were given a month to relocate, Shboul said, adding that their owners
were cooperative and showed willingness to respond to the ministry's
directives.
The ministry has also issued 11 tickets to other farms in the region for
breaching environmental regulations, including an absence of health safety
standards.
The farms were given a month to rectify the situation and the ministry's field
inspection teams will follow up on the situations and issue warnings if they do
not comply.
Last month, the ministry shut down a fertiliser plant in South Shuneh after it
failed to secure the minimum environmental, health and public safety standards.
The ministry's technical teams are implementing an integrated programme to
intensify monitoring on industries and stone factories, Shboul said.
The ministry is also conducting field inspection campaigns across the country,
in cooperation with the Environmental Police Department (EPD), to ensure that
all facilities, including industries and quarries, are abiding by environmental
regulations.
These measures are part of the ministry's procedures seeking to curb
environmental infringements, the spokesperson said, urging the public to
contact the ministry or the EPD to report instances of pollution or violations
of public health safety.