GAM teams working to increase capital’s green spaces

AMMAN –– The Greater Amman Municipality’s (GAM) “Amman a Green City 2020 — Towards a Green Jordan” committee is working on increasing green spaces in the capital, a GAM official said on Sunday. 

Imad Dabbas, the committee’s main coordinator, said the panel is going to implement a number of projects to rehabilitate the capital’s areas and increase the green space in Amman. 

“We started by revamping Jabal Amman’s Khirfan Street and installing flower pots on its side rails,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone on Sunday. 

Dabbas noted that the committee has now partnered with several ministries and organisations.

“The ministries of housing and environment are now among our partners, including NGOs like the International Union for Conservation of Nature,” he added. 

The committee will also conduct a number of projects by 2016 as part of plans to increase green space in the capital, which currently does not exceed 2.5 per cent. 

The plan is to increase it to between 5 per cent and 6 per cent, the GAM official noted. 

“We will start working on Rida and Quraish streets in downtown Amman by also installing flower pots in cooperation with shopkeepers, as they will be taking care of them after we set them up, as a way to involve the local community in taking care of their city,” Dabbas said, adding that the committee will focus more on east Amman.

The teams will start working on the airport road, which he described as the “gateway” of the capital. 

“It is a 24-kilometre long street and we will start working on nine locations stretching to 9 kilometres,” he added. 

Dabbas said GAM will also start rehabilitating public parks affiliated with the municipality. 

“There are 145 parks affiliated with GAM and we are revamping them by planting trees and expanding some of them. We will also classify them as parks for the elderly, for young people, for children and for pedestrians.” 

He also noted that the committee has cleaned buildings’ roofs in the east.

“A total of 350 roofs have been cleaned, and in cooperation with our partners we will work on making the roofs green as well,” Dabbas added.