2 derelict buildings demolished in downtown Amman

AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) on Saturday demolished two abandoned buildings in downtown Amman under a stern campaign to regulate the status of long forsaken properties in the capital.

Downtown Amman is one of the capital's oldest neighbourhoods, where a number of abandoned buildings are found, according to a municipal survey that numbered 325 old and collapsing buildings across Amman's 22 districts.

"A total of 225 old and abandoned buildings have been sealed so far after a committee inspected their status, while three buildings were brought down out of fears of collapse," Raed Haddadin, head of the municipality’s construction monitoring department, told The Jordan Times.

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

"It is not an easy task, the municipality is forced in certain cases to manually take down abandoned buildings because of difficult access to the target buildings," he told The Jordan Times, noting that the municipality is targeting abandoned buildings because they are becoming health and environment hotspots and pose dangers to public safety.

"Many abandoned buildings turn into dumping sites as people residing around them dispose of their trash and unwanted belongings there. Also, they provide cover for illegal practices," Haddadin stated.

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

Abu Rami, owner of a carpentry shop in downtown, said that the municipality's campaign on abandoned buildings is "necessary" and "welcomed".

"While it is an overdue step, it is very welcomed and needed. People who live or work in downtown and especially near abandoned buildings suffer because the sites became like landfills and they also shelter outlaws sometimes," Abu Rami, who also lives in the area, told The Jordan Times.

Meanwhile, Aminah Rabah said that it was "about time" that the municipality did something about the abandoned buildings.

"I live right next to an abandoned building in Jabal Al Hussein. Not only does it distort the street's aesthetic, but it is also a safety concern; so much that I try to avoid walking past it when it's dark," Rabah, who works at a beauty shop, said.

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 some 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 properties when they emigrate, or because the property is shared by a number of inheritors.

Either way, owners of abandoned buildings must fence off their properties or demolish them if they are 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.

"We level the tract of land where an abandoned building once stood by removing debris to turn into a space where children of the neighbourhood can play, and also have plans to plant those lands with trees, even if they are privately-owned," Haddadin noted.