Lower House legal committee to examine Dead Sea land deal

AMMAN — The Lower House on Tuesday tasked its Legal Committee with examining a suspected corruption case involving an MP who tried to acquire a plot of state-owned land in the Dead Sea area at a cost below the market price. 

Following a heated discussion over the issue, deputies stressed that such cases must be investigated thoroughly.

The matter was raised in Tuesday’s Lower House session, just one day after Maha Khatib, the commissioner of the Development and Free Zones Commission (DFZC), submitted her resignation.

Khatib, who was appointed to the post four months ago, reportedly accused the government of exerting pressure on her to transfer ownership of the state-owned land to Deputy Mohammed Saudi, head of the Lower House Finance Committee, at a price less than the market rate.

Denying the allegations, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour told the Lower House on Tuesday that “it was the DFZC which set the price for this land in the first place.”

During its Monday meeting, the Cabinet discussed this matter for almost one-and-a-half hours, but did not reach a decision due to differences among the ministers, according to the premier.

“Hence, the government decided to postpone its debate to a later stage,” he told MPs.

Meanwhile, Saudi called for referring the case to the relevant parliamentary committee to review and provide its recommendations.

He accused “those who head official agencies” of being “unable to handle their duties properly and creating obstacles for any investment”.

Saudi said he had plans to build a hotel in a 40-dunum plot of land near the Dead Sea in 2005, when he was not an MP. 

However, Saudi added, a former high-ranking army officer illegally appropriated the land, preventing him and his firm, Al Sanabil for Tourism Investments, from proceeding with the project.

The MP added that he requested to buy the land in 2013.

Several MPs questioned the government about the issue, demanding a clear answer.

Government Spokesperson Mohammed Momani told deputies that “the Cabinet postponed looking into the issue, pending further studies to determine a fair price for the land.” 

The DFZC decided to set the price at JD75,000 per dunum, according to a document it sent to the prime minister’s office, Momani added.

However, during the Cabinet meeting Khatib told the Council of Ministers that the price was JD200,000 per dunum, which led to postponing the Cabinet decision, Momani explained.