AMMAN — The
Parliamentary Agriculture Committee recommended on Tuesday that the
Council of Ministers exempt farmers from paying fines for illegally pumping
water.
اضافة اعلان
The chair of the Lower House
Water and Agriculture Committee, MP Muhammad Al-Alaqmeh, said that the committee made some
recommendations to the Ministry of Water and Agriculture and to the Jordan
Valley Authority (JVA).
It recommended
that the JVA improve the agricultural roads within its jurisdiction, and exempt
farmers from having to pay bank guarantees for drilling wells, and from paying
fines for illegally pumping water.
The committee recommended that the ministry increase
the JVA budget next year so that it can increase the number of employees and
carry out its duty to the fullest.
Alaqmeh said that “the ministry and JVA have always
been on the farmers’ side, and we are hopeful that they will agree to our
recommendations.”
He told
Jordan News that licensing for
drilling wells costs around JD2,000 and the bank guarantees are set at
JD10,000.
Jordan Valley Farmers’ Union President Adnan Khadam told
Jordan News that the
committee recommendations are essential under the current agriculture
circumstances.
“No farmer is
able to pay almost JD12,000 to drill a well, keeping in mind that even after
that the farmers will also have to desalinate the water, since it is going to
be salty and cannot be used for agriculture, which is another cost to be
considered,” he explained.
He also pointed out that the wells will not affect
the volume of underground water since the wells only collect surface and
running water.
On fines for illegal pumping, Khadam said farmers
should be “exempted from paying these fines since it is their right to get the
needed water”.
“Since water is critical and farmers are concerned about the
water shortage for the current season, it is mandatory to help farmers,” he
said.
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