‘Eight illegal pipes used to steal Jerash water dismantled’

AMMAN — The authorities on Saturday dismantled eight illegal pipes that were diverting thousands of cubic metres from the water main that supplies Jerash Governorate, according to officials.

The illegal pipes were channelling water to several wells on farms in Jerash Governorate, 48 kilometres north of the capital, Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) Secretary General Tawfik Habashneh said.

“The Jerash water directorate detected disruptions and a severe shortage in the amount of water pumped to the Majar area in Jerash. After inspecting the pipeline, the teams detected the violations,” Habashneh was quoted as saying in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

A joint team from WAJ, the Gendarmerie Department and the Public Security Department headed to the site and removed the illegal pipes, Water Ministry Spokesperson Omar Salameh told The Jordan Times on Saturday.

“The cases were referred to court for legal action against the violators,” Salameh noted.

He underscored that the ministry and security forces are pressing ahead with the crackdown on violators of water resources, noting that since the launch of the campaign in August last year, hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of water have been saved.

Last Wednesday, the authorities dismantled three illegal pipes that were diverting more than 5,000 cubic metres of water daily to farms in south Amman. The pipes were installed on a water main that supplies east Amman with its water share, according to the ministry.

Since August last year, more than 7,000 illegal pipes have been dismantled, 75.5 per cent of them in the capital. The ministry registered 1,919 violations on water mains and 3,360 cases of gauge tampering in the capital alone between August and December last year.

The ministry called on the public to cooperate with authorities and report violations.

“Every illegal pipe that is removed means an improved water supply to people,” Salameh noted.