King inaugurates military housing project in Zarqa

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah, the Supreme Commander of The Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army, in the presence of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Freihat, inaugurated on Monday the second and third phases of the Princess Salma housing project in Zarqa, according to a Royal Court statement.

The opening of this housing project comes as an implementation of the directives of His Majesty to provide comfort, stability and a decent life for the members of the Arab Army, the statement said, adding that the King inspected a number of apartments to check on the quality of the product. 

The three-phase project consists of 470 units in the form of villas and apartments of various sizes “designed according to the latest engineering standards”, with the blueprints and designs  prepared by the directorate, in cooperation with a specialised company.

The first stage, which was opened several years ago, included 170 housing units, while the second phase includes 155 homes, and the third phase to involve145 units.

The location of the career residence is close to the main road ports and public services and camps of the armed forces.

Brig. Gen. Mohammad Bashabsheh, head of the military’s works and housing operations, said in a speech at the opening ceremony that a large number of houses have been built for servicemen across all Jordan’s governorates. 

These projects have significantly reduced the financial burdens on beneficiaries, the general said, along with their travel expenses, especially for residents of remote cities and villages who have relocated to the new sites.

He stressed that the residential units have distributed among officers in line with transparent criteria, taking into consideration the applicant’s rank, duration of service, size of family, and place of residence in terms of distance from the place of work.

Bashabsheh pointed out to a decision to increase the value of the housing loans provided by the military housing funds for army personnel, underlining in this regard His Majesty’s makruma (benefaction) to support these funds, which have so far benefited more than 11,000 officers and 80,000 non-commissioned officers of the Armed Forces and security bodies.

The opening was attended by a number of officials and senior officers in addition to the beneficiaries of the project including officers, non-commissioned officers and members of the armed forces.