Water ministry tender allotment case referred to Public Prosecution

AMMAN — The Jordan Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission (JIACC) on Monday referred a case to the Public Prosecution, in which the Water Ministry awarded a JD14-million tender to a company to drill seven wells despite expert opinion that treating the water will be a "difficult" task.

An official source at the JIACC said that JD14,864,582, was awarded despite studies and recommendations against implementing the tender because the water in these wells is "very hot and very salty", the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

He added that the water also contains alpha and beta radiation, ranging between 20 to 50 times above the standard of Jordanian drinking water, in addition to containing some levels of radium.

Investigations, the source added, revealed that a former minister of water, who was a partner at the company that won the bid before assuming his post, floated the tender disregarding the results of a study conducted by an expert, who warned of the level of the hot and salty water, as well as a report by technical experts at the Atomic Energy Commission, which also found the treatment of the water from these wells to be unfeasible.

In 2017, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, under the minister at the time, issued the tender to which two companies responded. The one that eventually won the project, submitted a bid at JD26.796 million, while the other bid at JD26.998 million. At that point, the ministry decided to shelve the project.

Later in 2018, the bid was refloated and the company that eventually won the project made a bid again, but this time at the significantly lower price of JD14,864,582.

The source pointed out that the ministry disregarded the legislation in force that obligates coordination with the Department of Lands and Survey and the Natural Resources Authority, which surveyed the area and concluded that Uranium concentration in the area is very high.

The ministry also did not coordinate with the Atomic Energy Commission, as the entity responsible for the area under a previous Cabinet decision, the source said.

The former minister, who was not named, had spoken to the head of the Social Security Investment Fund to exploit the area for medical tourism due to the high temperature and mineral properties of its water, according to the source.