2016-2018 development projects in Madaba to cost JD127.369m — Fakhoury

AMMAN — Government spending on the Madaba Governorate development programme between 2016 and 2018 is expected to reach JD127.369 million, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury said Wednesday.

At a meeting with lawmakers, officials and local community representatives in the governorate, some 30km southwest of Amman, Fakhoury said the estimated cost of development projects for 2016 is JD38.63 million, while it stands at JD44.291 million for 2017, and JD44.291 million for 2018.

"We have to select priority development projects ready for implementation from the priorities' list included in the 2016-2018 governorate development programme, which is based on the outcomes of a previous visit by a ministry team headed by the secretary general," a ministry statement quoted him as saying. 

The minister said members of Madaba's executive council are required to review the list and select projects ready to be implemented, organising priorities in coordination with the concerned ministry or institution, and with the governorate's local team.

Fakhoury said the government is committed to adopting the outcomes of programmes concerning each governorate. 

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, he added, has issued a communiqué to the finance minister and the General Budget Department, urging it to adopt the development programmes' results when preparing the general budget and budgets of independent government units, making the results the basis of the budgets for ministries and government unit projects in the years 2016-2018.

The Madaba meeting — which brought together Madaba Governor Mohammad Smeiran, lawmakers, the governorate's executive council, civil society institutions, the private sector, municipal councils, and representatives of the youth and women’s sectors — was the first of a series planned by the government to discuss the draft for upgrading governorate development programmes for the years 2016-2018.

Speaking at the gathering, Smeiran said the meeting aims to recognise the needs of the governorate as part of a clear plan to bring development projects chosen by stakeholders in Madaba, enhancing the practice of decentralisation in Jordan.