Construction and contracting sector returns to work

AMMAN — The construction and contracting sector, with its private and public branches, has resumed work as of Sunday without limited ratios of workers.

President of the Jordanian Construction Contractors Association (JCCA) Ahmad Yacoub said in a statement that an agreement between the association and the Ministry of Public Works and Housing to open back the sector without limitations has been reached.

This came during a meeting held on Saturday by representatives of the construction sector, including the JCCA, the Jordanian Engineers Association, and the Investors Association.

Abu Abdullah Afeef, owner of a construction company located in Irbid, told The Jordan Times that work has resumed “strongly” but that “some damage by the long halt” had to be attended to.

“The lockdown decision came suddenly and we were already in the midst of projects. One day we woke up and were told that we had to stay home, which did some damage to building structures that needed completion,” he said over the phone.

Afeef explained that the building process is a continuous one, and that, for example, “you cannot pour cement and then leave it for six weeks. It has to be watered daily, and that kind of neglect means we had to start over again in some projects”.

According to a JCCA statement, the meeting discussed these issues related to the consequences that the sector will face after its resumption of work, but that they “hoped that by adhering to the public health and safety measures issued by the Ministry of Labour, the sector can continue working and make up for its losses even amidst the Defence Order”.

It was also agreed, according to the statement, that all stakeholders in the sector such as contractors, engineers and the investors would form a specialised committee to “immediately discuss the return of building projects in the private sector”.

Yacoub said that the Minister of Works and Housing Falah Omoush “promised to hold a meeting later with the Central Bank to facilitate procedures for obtaining soft loans for the construction and contracting sector”.

He added: “The minister also stated that more than 120 government dues were paid to contractors and consultants during the ban and that their financial claims already have been received, duly audited and disbursed.”

In a separate statement Omoush dismissed rumours that the government will stop working on construction projects it had started before the lockdown.