The minute former minister of water and irrigation
Hazem Al-Nasser came out to criticize the emptying of some of Jordan’s dams
under the pretext that “water levels were low”, an investigation should have
been launched.
اضافة اعلان
Nasser’s statements
this week point to the grave errors committed in the water dossier; he is a
veteran water expert who started his career as a civil servant with the Water
Ministry in 1991. He also served in different Cabinets as minister of water
and, at some point, of agriculture. His last appointment as water minister
concluded as recently as 2018. This makes him one of Jordan’s few expert
eyewitnesses to the country’s complex water history, both technically and
politically, over the course of 30 years.
The current Water
Ministry has recently said Jordan was on the verge of a “harsher summer than
the last one”. It then went ahead with the counterintuitive move of emptying a
couple of dam reservoirs to the point of aridness, thinking Jordanians would be
none the wiser.
Luckily for Jordan, the former official contradicted
the ministry’s narrative with a concise, unemotional, and informed critique. In
terms of strategy, he noted the apparent lack of strategic thinking when taking
the decision, and told the local press that had the Water Ministry anticipated
the water needs and challenges facing the country a mere two years ago, the
emptied dams would have sustained reasonable levels of water this summer.
On the technical
side, the former minister offered a clear and practical solution that would
have avoided taking such a drastic measure as flushing out the dam water, at
all costs. He said a bit of annual rationing of the dam water discharges meant
for agriculture would have done the job.
Describing the
situation as a “management error”, he said that even with the low reservoir
levels (according to ministry claims), water should not have been drained from
the dams, leaving them completely parched and out of service.
Notably, those are
not “philosophical opinions”; the arguments presented come from the practical
experience of someone who knows the water file inside out.
Because of the political sensitivity of the water file, only the most competent and experienced experts should be considered for government posts in the water and agricultural sectors (as well as in infrastructure).
Moreover, although
not mentioned explicitly, this may be the first time ever in Jordan’s history
that the water ministry drains a few of its dam reservoirs completely.
What the Water
Ministry seems to have done is more than a marginal error in judgment. The
damage is real and implies a worrying deterioration of competence, and
possibly, ethics. Causing Jordanians such serious damage is unacceptable.
This is precisely
the kind of case that should top the Jordanian Integrity and Anti-Corruption
Commission’s (IACC) list of priorities, owing to its sensitive national
security, economic, and political ramifications.
The commission
needs to move on this with the swiftness it deserves, seeing how the water
dossier is linked to people’s livelihoods and sense of security and stability,
as well as Jordan’s overall economic wellbeing.
A
“harsher-than-usual summer” could also negatively impact tourism. Tourists are
already here, and in what seems like large numbers, swimming in hotel pools and
using up critical water resources. Whose responsibility is it to balance out
the water needs of tourists with those of Jordanian households and agricultural
facilities?
For background, as
soon as His Majesty King Abdullah decided to step up the fight against
corruption, IACC was born, in 2006, as an independent body with the sole
mandate to “fight and prevent corruption”. In recent years, it has uncovered
some of the most outrageous corruption cases of embezzlement, abuse of power,
conflict of interest, and public-sector professional misconduct.
A thorough
investigation into the motives and circumstances that have led to the complete
drainage of the dams should be launched to understand the full dimensions of
this decision. Was it politically motivated? And was it intentional or
unintentional for the decision to play against the best interests of
Jordanians, both in the short and long terms?
On a related matter, a top water official said very
recently that it would be difficult for the ministry to monitor the water
thefts targeting the country’s water supply pipelines because of the area’s
vastness. He also discounted the possibility of nationalizing privately owned
water wells, saying that most private wells are out of reach in “far-away
desert areas” (which is untrue). Israel, on the other hand, considers every
water resource public property, as detailed in its Water Law issued in 1959.
For Jordan,
solutions are within reach. The ministry could very easily cooperate with
security forces to use their drones to perform periodic surveillance of
Jordan’s water pipelines, much like the work the army does across our long
border with Syria.
If this ends up
being a logistical and financial burden, the ministry could always outsource
this straightforward task to professional security firms. And in the absence of
financial resources, it could at least purchase its own drones and hire a few
security specialists to operate them to bring water thefts to a bare minimum.
This said, the real
problem here is with the gloomy picture carefully being painted to put
Jordanians in a state of panic by falsely claiming that there are no solutions
to the water situation this summer, with an equally false premise that implies
“our hands are tied”.
Jordanians have
been speculating about the motives for the recent statements concerning the
“critical” water situation. Some thought of last year’s proposed trilateral
“water-for-energy” deal as a possible backdrop. Others said the decision to empty
the dams was due to lack of vision and complete incompetence, one of the many
staples of the public sector.
Because of the
political sensitivity of the water file, only the most competent and
experienced experts should be considered for government posts in the water and
agricultural sectors (as well as in infrastructure). Weak or gullible public
officials should have no place in government, especially when their actions end
up dealing a heavy blow to the country’s water security.
Ruba Saqr has reported on the environment, worked in the
public sector as a communications officer, and served as managing editor of a
business magazine, spokesperson for a humanitarian INGO, and as head of a PR
agency.
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