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Stakeholders urge gov’t intervention in Zarqa eviction case

By Dana Al Emam - Jan 22,2017 - Last updated at Jan 22,2017

AMMAN — The “complexity” of the land dispute case in Zarqa’s Jannaa neighbourhood necessitates the intervention of the government, stakeholders said on Sunday.

Last week, Zarqa Magistrate Court ordered the eviction of structures that were built on 28 dunums out of 255 dunums in the neighbourhood and required residents to pay compensations to landowners.

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 legal fees.

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.

Zarqa Mayor Imad Momani said the municipality has presented suggestions to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs that called for the government to either provide residents of the disputed land with alternative housing in the governorate or pay the dues needed to settle the case.

Momani said Jannaa residents did not start evacuating their houses and are still waiting for a solution, which is currently being looked into by the judiciary.

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, the mayor said in previous remarks to The Jordan Times.

Lawyer Rizeq Shqeirat, who legally represents some of the affected families, said not all residents of the 270 housing units on the disputed land have legal representation, adding that the judicial order covers housing units whose residents do not have legal representation.

He attributed the absence of legal representation to the fact that many residents have lost the land purchase documents they signed with Shishani, who was Zarqa’s mayor in the 1970s. 

These purchases were also not documented at the Department of Land and Survey.

But no judicial decision has been issued yet for houses with legal representation, Shqeirat said, adding that the Zarqa Magistrate Court’s ruling is of first degree and can be appealed.

Meanwhile, the lawyer, who was appointed by the Jordan Bar Association’s branch in Zarqa, said he has filed a petition to consider the government a third party in the case, but the court has not decided on his request yet.

“In cases similar to this, the government usually intervenes to resolve the issue,” Shqeirat told The Jordan Times. 

Appealing the court’s decision takes one to two years and implementation takes another year, the lawyer added.

Jannaa resident Jamal Qarout, a 51-year-old civil retiree, said around 700 residents of the neighbourhood organised a protest on Friday to demand a “just” solution to the dispute that is threatening their stability, describing the protest as “the first act of escalation”.

He noted that some residents have received eviction orders, adding that they were also asked to demolish the buildings and remove the debris, a matter that they cannot afford.

“We hope the government will intervene,” Qarout said.

 

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

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