PM checks on development projects in Karak

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Thursday checked on the progress in the construction of Ibn Hammad Dam in Karak as part of a field visit to a set of development projects in the southern governorate.

Ensour listened to a briefing by Water Minister Hazem Nasser, who said that 30 per cent of the project is completed, adding that the 4 million cubic metre (mcm) dam will increase the storage capacity of the country's dams from 325 to 400mcm, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

In previous remarks to The Jordan Times, Water Ministry Spokesperson Omar Salameh said construction work on the project commenced after the ministry signed an agreement with local contractors in December 2014 to start implementation.

The dam will be ready in three years to recharge aquifers in Ibn Hammad and provide farmers and cattle breeders with water, Salameh said.

Ibn Hammad Dam is being built at a cost of JD27 million, of which JD26 million will be paid by the Arab Potash Company and the rest by the Treasury, according to the spokesperson.

Named after the Ibn Hammad Valley, the 52-metre-high dam will help meet the increasing demand for water in the country, according to the ministry.

Ensour also checked on the construction of a road linking Karak, some 140km south of Amman, with the southern Jordan Valley, a school, and  the expansion of Ghor Al Safi Public Hospital and listened to briefings by the concerned ministers on the progress achieved, according to Petra.