Sector leader estimates losses from border looting at JD100m

JABER AL SARHAN/AMMAN – An official at the Jordan Free Zones Investors Commission on Saturday estimated the losses resulting from violence and looting at the Jordanian-Syrian Free Zone at more than JD100 million.

A number of Jordanian truck drivers complained that their goods and trucks were stolen from the Jordanian-Syrian border by people claiming they were members of the so-called Free Syrian Army on Thursday.

The Nasib crossing on the Syrian side witnessed a number of air strikes on Thursday and Friday following the seizure of the area by the rebels.
The commission’s chairman, Nabil Rumman, said the free zone has two entrances from the Jordanian and Syrian sides.  

"The looting of goods the free zone witnessed on Thursday occurred through the Syrian entrance," he told The Jordan Times over the phone on Saturday.
He noted that around 350 vehicles were stolen, including trucks that were seized by rebels, in addition to raw materials and industrial equipment.
“We cannot give exact figures of the amount of losses but after we check the documents, we will disclose the exact figure,” he added.

Though the closure of the border crossing with Syria might negatively affect on the business traffic in Jordan, Rumman said he was sure that the step was taken to ensure the safety of people and their belongings.

Jordan on Wednesday closed its border with Syria for security reasons, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Interior Minister Hussein Majali said that passenger and cargo traffic across the border was halted as a result of escalating violence in Nasib, just across the crossing.

The decision to close the Jaber border station was primarily taken with the aim of saving the lives of passengers, Majali told Petra.
Many Jaber Al Sarhan village residents talking to The Jordan Times were upset over the incidents happening at the free zone as many of them were working at the facility when the incidents forced them to leave their jobs.  

In a related development, Majali on Friday checked on the security situation at the Jaber border crossing, Petra reported.

He said Jordanian trucks that were stuck between the borders were allowed entry, adding that security and customs guards have started to remove investors’ goods to a safe area designated near the crossing.