By Hani Hazaimeh
AMMAN - Located some 160 kilometres to the north of Aqaba city, Greigrah and Feinan Municipality has set an example in “successful poverty reduction” through its civil society-run flower production project.
The municipality, which provides municipal services to around 4,000 citizens living in the two towns, was the recipient of a 270,000-euro grant as part of the 30 million euros EU-funded Poverty Alleviation through Local Development (PALD) programme, which started in 2006 and aimed to “enhance living conditions for the poor and near-poor through sustainable, locally initiated development projects”.
The Greigrah and Feinan Municipality was one of 21 municipalities chosen by the programme to set up a local development unit and formulate priority projects to create jobs and reduce poverty. Under the programme, the EU agreed to fund one priority project in each municipality, which in the case of Greigrah and Feinan was an initiative to produce and sell roses.
Through the project, the municipality is expected to generate more than JD60,000 per year by selling flowers to the local market.
“Currently we produce between 1,200-1,500 flowers a week. We hope in the project’s next phase, we will be able to produce around 70,000 flowers per year which will enable us to export to the European markets after enhancing quality to meet EU standards,” Mayor Khalil Amarin told The Jordan Times on the sidelines of an EU delegation tour to the area Thursday.
He added that the project created seven jobs and is an example of partnership between the municipality and the local community institutions, as the area’s cooperative societies own around 60 per cent of the business, while two of these societies are in charge of managing the project and marketing its product.
“The municipality’s role is no longer a service provider. Rather, we are focusing our efforts on engaging the local communities in the decision-making process,” he said, noting that the municipality’s development unit selected the flower project from a number of priority projects developed through dialogue with the local communities in the two towns.
Head of Amarin Cooperative Society Mohammad Amarin, better known as Abu Imran in the community, said the society has been engaged in the development process in that area, which has suffered a poverty rate of more than 50 per cent for several years.
“The society is in charge of water distribution to around 600 citizens in Greigrah and Feinan. We are also operating a 150-dunum project to grow field crops. We hope within the coming few years to expand this project to cover 4,000 dunums,” Abu Imran said, adding that civil society groups in the two towns serve more than 90 per cent of the population.
Ambassador Patrick Renauld, head of the EU Delegation to Jordan, emphasised the growth the municipality has witnessed since his previous visit last year, demonstrating more commitment towards creating sustainable income, and reinforcing the local people’s role in developing a sustainable economy.
“It is no coincidence that the Jordanian government is now accelerating the implementation of a decentralisation plan. Over the last years, local authorities in Jordan have become key players in the development process. We will continue working with them, as sustainable development cannot be achieved without their contribution and support,” he said.
The visit was organised in collaboration with the ministries of municipal affairs, interior, social development and planning and international cooperation.
The EU Delegation will in the coming few weeks sign with concerned authorities a 3 million euros deal to help municipalities design efficient and profitable projects, according to the delegation.
Moreover, the EU Delegation, through a new initiative called “Non-state Actors and Local Authorities in Development”, will offer grant opportunities on a yearly basis to municipalities in poverty pockets. The first grant in Jordan was signed last week with Muath Ben Jabal Municipality in the Jordan Valley to fund a paper recycling project.
