GAM grants compensation, exemptions for shops damaged by construction, flooding

AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) on Tuesday decided to exempt all traders whose shops are located on the King Ghazi Street in downtown Amman from fees for vocational, handicraft and industrial licences in 2019.

The decision to refund merchants who already paid these fees for 2019 is in response to a petition they submitted for compensation for damages resulting from ongoing renovation works in the area, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The council also approved cancelling all fees for vocational, handicraft and industrial licences for 2019 and 2020 for downtown merchants who were affected by recent floods in the area. The fees will be returned to the affected shopkeepers who have already paid these fees, Petra added.

The GAM also decided to form a committee to inspect damaged shops and refer recommendations to the Prime Ministry for endorsement.

Late in February, heavy rain flooded downtown Amman and caused “extensive damage” to shops in the area.

The incident prompted citizens to voice frustration over the country’s “poor” infrastructure over social media platforms, while others launched an initiative to extend a helping hand to those affected.

The depression, which brought with it an extensive amount of rain to water-deprived Jordan, also brought with it losses estimated in the thousands for downtown shops, according to various owners.

A technical committee was formed by the government to help with the case, and it was commissioned to review the reports and help identify the causes of the flooding.

After receiving an independent company’s report, Prime Minister Omar Razzaz stressed the need to identify and correct any shortcomings uncovered in the report, as well as holding the parties responsible accountable for their shortcomings.

The committee said that the heavy rain Jordan saw in late February did not justify the flooding, as the downpour on February 28 was not exceptional.

Also on Tuesday, the GAM council decided to extend JD100,000 as a contribution to His Majesty King Abdullah’s initiative to repay the debts of gharimat, indebted women, Petra added.

King Abdullah will cover the debts of 1,500 gharimat as part of the initiative.

With His Majesty’s contribution, the initiative will have achieved its goal of covering all the debts of the gharimat who meet the set criteria, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Abdul Nasser Abul Bassal, who heads the Zakat Fund’s administration team in charge of following up with the implementation of the initiative, said on Monday.