Gov't implementing $2.5m worth of projects to improve Zarqa water supply

AMMAN — Construction has commenced on $2.5 million worth of water projects in Zarqa's Ruseifa Municipality to improve water supply in the heavily populated area ahead of the dry season, officials said on Monday.

Water Minister Hazem Nasser said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times that $1.6 million has been allocated to extending and rehabilitating water networks in Jabal Al Amir Feisal in Ruseifa, in addition to installing new water networks in Zarqa at a cost of $200,000.

The ministry will also construct new water mains to improve supply in Zarqa and Ghweiriyeh at a cost of $775,000, Nasser said.

"Once these projects are implemented, consumers should feel a change for the better in water supply services, while water lost due to deteriorated networks will be saved and redirected to consumers," he added.

The ministry's spokesperson, Omar Salameh, said that implementation of the projects has commenced, noting that they should be completed during the first quarter of this year.

"The studies of the projects are completed and construction has started. By April, all of the projects are scheduled to be completed," Salameh told The Jordan Times in a phone interview.

Nasser noted that the ministry, in cooperation with the Millennium Challenge Account — Jordan (MCA-Jordan), has managed to achieve financial savings in water projects being implemented in Zarqa, highlighting that these savings were used to fund the new projects in Ruseifa.

Established in 2010, MCA-Jordan is a company fully owned by the government to manage and implement a $275-million grant from the US Millennium Challenge Corporation. 

It is implementing three main projects under the grant in Zarqa Governorate, some 22km east of Amman, which has a population of 1.364 million, according to the latest census.

The projects include the rehabilitation and expansion of the wastewater network, the rehabilitation and restructuring of water networks and the expansion of the Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The grant also covers a project to improve household water systems and decrease domestic water costs.

Once the projects are completed, water loss in Zarqa will drop from 52 per cent to less than 37 per cent.

In addition, water supply in Zarqa will increase from 36 to 70 hours per week, according to MCA-Jordan's previous statements.

Official figures indicate that there are 150,000 water subscribers in Zarqa, 70 per cent of whom are linked to the sewage network.