13 abandoned buildings demolished in 2018 for ‘hazard to public safety’

AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) has demolished 13 abandoned buildings since the beginning of the year for posing hazards to public safety, a municipal official said on Sunday.

The municipality is removing abandoned structures under an ongoing campaign it has launched earlier this year, Raed Haddadin, head of the municipality’s construction monitoring department, said on Sunday, noting that the municipality’s teams still have dozens of derelict buildings that need to be brought down.

“We demolished today two abandoned buildings in Basman area in central Amman. A higher committee on public safety studies abandoned buildings case by case before approving their removal,” Haddadin told The Jordan Times.

The campaign seeks to regulate the status of long forsaken properties, many of which became environment hotspots as adjacent neighbours dispose off their trash and unwanted belongings there, Haddadin said.

In addition, abandoned buildings turn in many cases into a hideout for illegal practices, he noted.

In November 2014, a reported rape attempt was said to have taken place at an abandoned building between the Fourth and Fifth circles in Jabal Amman.

The municipality has identified 375 old and collapsing buildings across Amman’s 22 districts, the official noted.

Owners of the abandoned buildings bear the costs of cleaning up and sealing down their abandoned property, as well as costs of demolishing properties that pose threats to public safety due to collapse concerns, according to GAM.

“People are starting to take responsibility and remove collapsing buildings. Six old buildings have been removed by their owners in different parts of Amman,” he underlined.

Over the past two years, GAM repeatedly urged Amman residents to report derelict buildings to prevent them from becoming safety hazards and locations for illegal activities.

The municipality established several contact channels for the public to report abandoned buildings as well as violations and complaints, including a mobile app, an e-mail address (shakawi.dwn@ammancity.gov.jo), a Facebook page (cityofamman), a Twitter account (@GAMtweets), and emergency numbers; 06/5359971, 06/5359970. Text messages can also be sent to 94444, GAM explained.

With some built around 70 to 80 years ago, the majority of abandoned properties is located in Amman’s old neighbourhoods, such as Jabal Amman, Jabal Luweibdeh, Jabal Al Hussein and downtown, according to GAM, which said that people usually desert their buildings when they emigrate, or because the property is shared by a number of inheritors.

Either way, owners of abandoned buildings must fence off their property or demolish it if it is old and likely to collapse, GAM stressed, noting that, as it is bringing down collapsing buildings, it has plans for “reusing” lands that once hosted abandoned buildings.