Amman residents urged to report trucks dumping debris in vacant land plots

AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) has called on people to report trucks that unload debris in empty plots of lands across the capital.

Several truck drivers use vacant plots as dumps for construction, demolition or yard debris, a municipality official said on Thursday, noting that debris must be dumped in designated landfills in Amman and Ruseifa.

“It is a violation to dump debris in undesignated locations because of the visual and environmental pollution they cause,” head of the construction monitoring department at GAM, Raed Haddadin, told The Jordan Times.

The municipality has initiated a campaign to remove debris from vacant plots across the capital, he said.

“We started in March this year removing debris. Our patrols roam the streets of Amman every Friday and remove debris such as bricks, concrete, cement sacks and tree branches,” Haddadin noted.

So far, the municipality’s teams removed 125,000 cubic metres of debris, he added.

“We have a very long way ahead of us because it has unfortunately become normal for people to dump debris and waste on vacant plots,” the official said.

Haddadin urged the public to contact the municipality if they see trucks unloading debris or waste on empty lands.

“We need the cooperation of residents, because Amman stretches over 850 square kilometres, and it is impossible for us alone to monitor the movement of trucks carrying debris,” he underscored.

People can reach the municipality to report violations on 06/3539970 or 0798166819, according to Haddadin.

The municipal official said that removing debris from the streets of Amman is part of a larger campaign to improve the aesthetics of the city, noting that the municipality is pressing ahead with removing wrecked vehicles from the sides of the streets.

A total of 1,100 abandoned cars have been removed from the streets this year, he said.