Contractors lament gov't 'delay' in payments as dues pile up

AMMAN — The government owes the Jordanian Construction Contractors Association nearly JD300 million, according to the association’s President Ahmad Yacoub, who said the sector is going through a “severe recession”.

In a phone interview with The Jordan Times, Yacoub said that the government “has failed to pay its financial dues, which have accumulated over the past few years.”

“The building process is like a chain, so if the contractor cannot execute his part, the rest of the chain will be disrupted as well,” he added.

Noting that not only his sector, but the real estate sector and the heavy machinery sector have been “negatively affected and damaged as a result of the delay in payments”, Yacoub said his contractors now have urgent dues in the form of bank loans, labour wages and technical equipment payments.

The lawsuits filed against the government by contractors are still pending, so Prime Minister Omar Razzaz recently directed the association and the government to form a joint committee to reach “amicable settlements”. 

“This committee has not met, not once, until now. The slowdown in payment makes matters worse, not only for us but for the Treasury, as an interest rate of about 9 per cent has been agreed upon for any late payment to any contractor,” said Yacoub.

He added that a solution offered by the government was that each contractor could borrow the sum that the government owes him from the bank, provided that the government settles matters with the bank. However, the government specified that the loan should only be the principal amount of the payment, without the 9 per cent interest, which Yacoub called “a great injustice”.

The association recently warned in a statement that the financial failure of the government has led to “the paralysis of the sector, the bankruptcy of its stakeholders and the displacement of sector workers who support thousands of families”.

Despite several attempts to contact the Prime Ministry concerning this issue, The Jordan Times received no response.