Hashemiyeh residents mull suing factories for polluting district

AMMAN — Residents of Hashemiyeh District in Zarqa, some 22km east of Amman, are planning to sue industrial establishments over “very dangerous” environmental violations, according to district officials.

Deputy Wasfi Zyoud (Zarqa, 3rd District) told The Jordan Times on Thursday that he, along with a group of Hashemiyeh residents, will “soon file a legal complaint against some 50 violating establishments if no action is taken to improve environmental conditions” in the area.

Zyoud said several complaints have been presented to the government against the district’s “very bad” environmental condition, but in vain, charging that the government provides owners of these establishments with privileges because they are “well connected”.

The lawmaker added that several factories were closed down in the past due to environmental violations, but were reopened “two hours after closure, with claims that the violations were addressed”.

He noted that the district’s main industrial establishments include the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company, Al Hussein Thermal Power Station and As Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant.

These three firms and many others are important to Jordan’s economy, District Governor Oqla Zyoud recently told the Jordan Times.

“However, they must not harm Hashemiyeh residents,” he said, noting that several residents suffer from diseases, mainly respiratory, due to the emission of toxic gases.

The governor agreed with the lawmaker that the government is “going easy” on violators, who are harming some 100,000 individuals residing in the district.

“The government has extended the franchise agreement with one of the violating companies until 2015,” he said.

Instead of addressing the roots of the problem, the government has been dealing with its consequences, MP Zyoud said, noting that the government pays for the medical treatment of those affected by the pollution.