Gov’t to grant Maan residents free land plots

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Saturday said that the government has picked a 70,000-dunum area to distribute among the residents of Maan, around 220km south of Amman.

The premier also announced, as he met community leaders at his office, that the green light was given to build a military-run hospital in the area, which is among the poorest regions in the Kingdom.

Ensour noted that the land-distributing plan, a Royal makruma (initiative) announced during His Majesty King Abdullah’s visit to the area in 2011, will see each of the areas’ residents, who hold national identity numbers, receive one dunum free of charge, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

During the meeting, attended by Minister of Municipal Affairs Walid Masri and Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani, the premier said the Wadi Al Aqiq area in the governorate, the largest in area in the Kingdom, has been selected to implement the initiative. 

Wadi Al Aqiq is around 15km to the south of the town of Maan on the Aqaba highway, according to Maani residents contacted by phone. 

According to the Department of Statistics’ (DoS) 2012 figures, the total population of Maan Governorate was estimated at around 121,000, while the region comes last among the country’s 12 governorates in terms of population density. 

DoS figures also show that unemployment in Maan, which has witnessed major violent incidents over the past four decades attributed mostly to socio-economic factors, stood in the same year at 19 per cent, trailed only by Tafileh at 19.6 per cent.

The report did not specify if the land would be distributed to the residents of Maan town, or the wider governorate, which is home to bedouin tribes and other towns like Shobak, Husseiniyeh and Wadi Mousa, among others.

Petra quoted Ensour as noting that Wadi Al Aqiq was an alternative site for the project, replacing another 5,000-dunum site, whose area “is not enough to distribute among the people of Maan, let alone its rough terrain”.

The original site was opposite to Al Hussein University to the west of the town.

Ensour added that the new site will be the location of “New Maan” and that it will be provided with all the needed infrastructure, stressing that “we are keen to implement this project as soon as possible”.

He stressed that the “other areas of Maan are all for the people of Maan and will be utilised to their benefit”.

The premier said that he would hold more meetings with Maan community leaders to discuss other issues, including “security”, adding that he agrees with the signatories that Maan, like other districts, is entitled to “the revenues of development” in the district. 

He said that authorities are mulling the establishment of a medical school at Al Hussein University. 

The Maani dignitaries took turn to comment on the development, with all expressing appreciation for the gesture and satisfaction with the site selected for the development project, whose area is almost double the zoned area of Maan city, according to Petra, which quoted officials at the meeting as saying that work will commence in Wadi Al Aqiq in March and the ownership documents would be ready soon after the zoning process is completed by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. 

The military hospital will be adjacent to the university, according to Petra.