‘Jordan Valley farmers to soon be compensated for fire damages’

AMMAN — Farmers will soon be compensated for their losses caused by the wildfires that engulfed the Jordan Valley last summer. 

Ministry of Agriculture Spokesperson Lorance Majali told The Jordan Times on Monday that in the next two months Jordan Valley farmers will be compensated for their losses resulting from the wild fires that spread from the Israeli side of the river and destroyed farmers’ crops.

“Farmers will get JD800 to JD1,000 in compensation for each dunum,” Majali said. 

Majali added that the Agriculture Ministry has been closely monitoring compensation for the damages farmers endured in 2020-2021.

He also said that farmers have received JD500,000 in compensation due to the drying up of the Waleh Dam. 

Majali highlighted that the government has allocated a total of JD3.5 million, in cooperation with the Agriculture Ministry through the Agriculture Risk Fund, to support farmers who suffered due to frost spells, wild fires and drought, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Farmers were affected by the fires, in addition to the loss of irrigation systems, tanks and pumps,” Adnan Khaddam, president of the Jordan Valley Farmers Union, told The Jordan Times on Monday.

Khaddam added that farmers who own land adjacent to the Israeli border incur “significant losses” each year as their trees, crops and infrastructure are often burned in fires that start in Israel and spread to the Kingdom.

“The union wanted to sue Israeli authorities in international courts, however, international law suits cost excessive amounts of money that the union cannot afford,” Khaddam added. 

Khaddam said that “Israel should be obliged to follow precautionary measures that prevent fires from reaching Jordanian lands”.