Elected governorate officials reject 10% deduction of council budget allocations

AMMAN — Governorate councils have expressed their rejection of a government's decision to slash 10 per cent of the councils’ allocations for capital projects, calling it a “flagrant attack” on the councils and people’s projects.

The Tafileh council was the only council to agree on the decision, Al Rai daily published on Saturday.

Heads and members of the other councils said that the government has to look elsewhere for the funds, especially since the capital projects account for no more than 2-3 per cent of the councils’ budgets.

Deductions can exceed JD3 million out of the councils’ budgets, which in total amounts to JD34 million, they said.

“What, then, is left for capital projects?” the elected officials were quoted as saying.

They called on the government to guarantee that the councils’ budgets remain untouched, noting that the ventures are still pending and no tenders have been floated to begin implementation.

Any such decision will affect the goals for which the councils were established to begin with, they argued.

Incursions of the sort affect negatively the level of services delivered to citizens and reduce the job-generating capabilities of the council’s projects, the local officials underlined.

It also reflects negatively on the sustainable development process and limits the wealth redistribution channels across Jordan, they added.

Council officials asserted that that the government should establish other solutions to their budgetary problems, stressing the need for dialogue with elected local and governorate officials before any such decisions are taken.

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz in April said that the capital expenditure allocations for governorates have been increased from JD227 million in 2018 to JD303 million in 2019 “despite the government’s austerity measures”.