Zarqa neighbourhood residents bemoan court order for eviction

AMMAN — Jannaa residents say the recent court decision that ordered the eviction of buildings in the area and required resident to pay compensations threatens their social security in what they called a “re-migration” ruling.

On Monday, Zarqa Magistrate Court ordered the eviction of structures that were built on 28 dunums out of 255 dunums in the governorate’s Jannaa neighbourhood.

About 700 families of the neighbourhood will now be forced to leave the area after the ruling and pay JD1,945 as a “rent value of similar property” for three years, in addition to paying fees and lawyer costs.

The land on which the neighbourhood was established is entangled in a legal dispute over ownership.

The issue dates back to 1948, when a wave of Palestinians took refuge in Zarqa, some 22km northeast of Amman, and initially settled in Zarqa camp. 

But as the camp’s population increased, residents expanded into Jannaa, which became interconnected with the camp due to its proximity.

Jannaa resident Jamal Qarout, a 51-year-old civil retiree, said the decision has “a very negative” impact on the residents, particularly during the current harsh economic conditions.

He said residents have exerted extraordinary efforts and worked hard over the years to build their houses “brick by brick” in the over-crowded neighbourhood, where some 50,000 people live.

“Residents can barely make ends meet… they definitely cannot pay compensations,” he said, citing high unemployment among young people and women, while most working men have daily-wage jobs like tiling and bleaching. 

Those working in companies and banks do not exceed 5 per cent of the population, Qarout claimed. 

The average monthly family income in Jannaa is around JD280 to JD300, he told The Jordan Times on Tuesday, adding that most families have five to seven children.

The highest share of the disputed land belongs to the Amman-based White Beds (Al Asirra Al Baydaa) Society home for the elderly, and the rest is owned by heirs of Bahaa Eldin Shishani and the Housing and Urban Development Corporation, in addition to the state, Zarqa Mayor Emad Momani said in previous remarks to The Jordan Times.

Qarout was born in 1966 in the neighbourhood after his father came to Jordan as a Palestinian refugee in the early 1950s. But his uncles settled in the area in 1948 and 1949.

He said that Bahaa Eldin Shishani owned the land in 1953. 

Lawyer Laith Shamayleh, who legally represents the majority of Shishani’s heirs, was not available for comment despite several attempts by The Jordan Times.

“We do not have anywhere else to go,” Qarout said, adding that most buildings in the area comprise of four to five floors, and each floor accommodates six to seven families, many of whom live in a single room. 

Issam Hindi, a father of five, was also born and raised in the neighbourhood. He said three generations of his family have lived in the area.

Hindi, who works as a contractor, said he attempted to buy a piece of the disputed land where his family lives and to obtain an official ownership document for JD50 for each square metre, but “the owners disregarded” his move. 

Both Qarout and Hindi agreed that relocation is not possible, and so is paying compensations. 

They said the only way out is for a “higher intervention” to pay the total compensations, which they said amount to JD2 million. The Jordan Times was not able to verify this figure from Shamayleh. 

Momani told Petra that the social protection and humanitarian aspects of the issue should be taken into consideration, noting that the municipality has offered the heirs an alternative plot of land and tried to reach a settlement for residents to stay in the neighbourhood while paying the “rent value of similar property”.

On Monday, Shamayleh told the Jordan News Agency, Petra that his clients were ready to resolve the case without resorting to court, and he tried to reach settlements with the defendants before they received fines, but they did not respond.

Meanwhile, Petra reported on Tuesday that Jannaa residents are planning to appeal the court ruling.