Once again, a contractor’s bulldozer damages water pipeline

AMMAN — Pumping of drinking water to Muadi Village in the Central Jordan Valley resumed on Monday afternoon, after fixing a rupture to the main carrier supplying the community with water caused by construction works, a government official said on Monday.

The six-inch main pipeline, which carries water from Muadi pumping station and distributes it to households in Muadi, was damaged on Sunday evening by a bulldozer belonging to a contractor carrying out construction works in Deir Alla, the official at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation said.

“Technical teams worked around-the-clock from Sunday evening to Monday afternoon to fix the broken pipeline. Pumping has resumed, but the water distribution programme of the area was greatly affected,” the official told The Jordan Times.

Under the distribution programme, households receive water once during a certain period, usually a week, on a rotating basis. Scarce water resources compelled the Kingdom to initiate the programme in the early 1980s to ensure fair distribution of water to subscribers.

“Damaging the pipeline left 6,000 people in the Muadi Village without water. We, again, urge contractors to act responsibly and coordinate with the ministry before starting digging at any location across the country to prevent the recurrence of such an incident,” the official noted.

The damaged pipeline of Muadi Village via a contractor is the fourth such an incident within 10 days. Contractors carrying out construction works have caused damages to main carriers or sever an electricity cable caused supply suspension in Salt in Balqa Governorate, Karak and Maan, in addition to the latest incident in the Jordan Valley.

“The contractor will be legally held accountable and will have to pay for the cost of the damaged pipeline and all of the wasted water,” the official highlighted.

The ministry announced last week that it will start enforcing the modified Water Authority of Jordan Law No. 22 for the year 2014 against violating contractors working on projects across the country.

The law stipulates that a contractor, who damages any of the water and wastewater carriers or pipelines, will be jailed up to three years and fined up to JD5,000.

The announcement comes after recurring water cuts resulting from contractors’ negligence to coordinate with the ministry, its authorities and directorates before embarking on any digging.