FMD-affected livestock farmers yet to receive compensation months after outbreak

AMMAN — Livestock farmers whose work was affected by an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) have yet to receive compensation, as several stages of approval remain unresolved months after agreeing upon the compensation package.

Speaking with The Jordan Times, Chairman of the Dairy Cattle Cooperative Laith Al Hajj said that “a significant number of farms are waiting to be compensated. There is still a lack of information and clarity, and there should have been a timeline for the amount to be provided to farmers.”
Al Hajj called for urgent action, adding that farm input costs are high and “any delays in compensation should have been avoided”.

“Farmers’ financial situation has seriously deteriorated,” he added, noting that providing additional vaccines for cattle would be beneficial at this stage.
The Ministry of Agriculture has already ratified the compensation document and raised the issue to the Prime Ministry.

The file is now awaiting approval from the Ministry of Finance, the Agriculture Ministry's assistant secretary-general for Livestock, Ali Abu Nukta said in a statement sent to The Jordan Times.
“From the onset of the disease, the agriculture ministry has been committed to following up with stakeholders and the affected farmers,” the statement said.

“The ministry has dealt with 114 cattle farms which were impacted by FMD and in which almost all damages were confined,” Abu Nukta said, calling on farmers to “not be hasty in passing judgement” on the government’s response regarding compensation.