200 underprivileged families to get new homes — ministry

AMMAN — More than 200 houses will be built or renovated for underprivileged families by the end of this year, according to the Ministry of Social Development.

Ali Abdelhafeth, the supervisor of the construction, said that the ministry either does “major-scale renovations” to a house already owned by an underprivileged family or builds one from scratch.

“The decision is made based on the family’s situation, the land authorised for ministry use, the family’s preference, and other factors that are all taken into consideration when a family requests a house,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone.

The requests can be made through two programmes that both serve the same purpose, according to Abdelhafeth. One programme is managed by the Royal Court and the other by the Ministry of Social Development.

“The programmes are essentially the same, but the ministry’s is older. The Royal Court programme was established in 2003 when His Majesty King Abdullah visited an underprivileged family in Tafileh and directed the Royal Court to build them a new house,” said Abdelhafeth.

“Since then, more than 5,000 families have benefitted from both programmes,” he said, adding that last year, 139 families benefitted.

Sultan Allan, media officer at the ministry, said that this year the ministry installed a computer software that “automatically evaluates each family’s case based on pre-installed criteria to quickly process requests and increase the number of houses built”.

“We are trying to cut down on bureaucratic procedures as these families are truly in need of quick assistance, especially before winter,” he added.