AMMAN — The government is committed to putting an end to all water violations, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said Wednesday, describing water theft as a form of corruption.
To this end, Ensour said, the government has drafted new amendments to the Water Authority of Jordan Law.
The Lower House on Wednesday referred the amended draft to its Agriculture and Water Committee, giving it “urgency status”, with MPs expressing their desire to play a part in protecting the country’s water resources.
The premier said the bill reflects the government’s determination to stop all types of violations on the water network across the country.
The government has sealed hundreds of illegal water wells, he added, noting that the authorities are working on measures to prevent further breaches on water pipelines.
Ensour voiced hope that the Lower House would speed up deliberations over this
particular bill.
Water Minister Hazem Nasser said the authorities sealed 174 out of 800 active illegal wells and 500 inactive ones in 2013.
The ministry is working on preventing further violations on the network, and has referred several cases to the concerned court, where violators face charges of committing economic crimes, Nasser told deputies at Wednesday’s session.
His remarks came in response to several questions raised by former Lower House speaker Abdul Karim Dughmi (Mafraq, 1st District), who stressed the need to safeguard the county’s water resources, especially as the Kingdom is among the poorest countries on Earth in water resources.
In response to a question by MP Mejhem Sqour (Cooperation list) on a previous Cabinet decision allowing those who own over 90 dunums of land in the Jordan Valley to dig their own artesian wells, Nasser said the move was a mistake and is no longer in effect.
According to ministry figures released late last month, 70 per cent of water loss in Jordan is due to theft and illegal usage.
Since the ministry launched a crackdown on water violations in August last year, and up until December, more than 7,091 illegal water pipes were dismantled, of which 75.5 per cent were in the capital, according to the figures.
The ministry registered 1,919 violations on main water conveyors and 3,360 cases of changing water gauges in Amman alone between August and December last year.
During the same period, the ministry’s teams registered 1,163 violations in Irbid, 95 in Ajloun Governorate, 35 in Jerash and over 150 in Mafraq and Northern Badia.
Last year, the Iftaa Department issued a fatwa (religious edict) prohibiting the theft of water or violations on water resources and networks.
Such violations or random drilling of wells threaten the future of drinking water, which is a shared right amongst people, the fatwa said.
Under Article 30 of the current version of the Water Authority of Jordan Law, violators are fined up to JD5,000 and jailed for two years, while Article 456 of the Penal Code stipulates that violators of water networks face three- to six-month prison terms and fines ranging between JD100 and JD1,000.
