Ministry calls on int’l community for continued water, sanitation support

AMMAN — The Minister of Water and Irrigation, the German ambassador to Jordan and UNICEF on Thursday launched the operation of a water supply and waste water network which will connect all households in the Zaatari refugee camp, a UNICEF statement said. 

As the first of 12 districts, a network which will serve about 8,000 households in District 8 of the camp has been commissioned, according to the statement.   

Speaking at the launch event, Minister of Water and Irrigation Ali Ghezawi said that the government, in cooperation with donor countries and international agencies, seeks to implement effective environmental solutions in Zaatari camp, which hosts thousands of Syrian refugees, to preserve the environment and underground water and serve residents in areas neighbouring the camp.

The minister was quoted in the statement as calling on the international community and donors to provide more support to improve living standards in the underprivileged areas outside the camp through providing water and sanitation services and implementing projects with impact on these areas.

 “Jordan is facing an enormous pressure with regard to its scarce water resources, and this pressure has been growing over the last years due to the influx of refugees. In this context, the German government has scaled up its longstanding cooperation with the Jordanian government in the water sector substantially," German Ambassador to Jordan Birgitta Siefker-Eberle said, stressing  that the "current portfolio of German development cooperation in the water sector has a volume of more than 1 billion Euros. Water is and will remain one of the focal areas of German development operation."

According to the statement, the new networks will have multiple positive outcomes including improvement of the living conditions inside the camp, improvement of environmental conditions for Jordanians and Syrian refugees, especially in safeguarding the Kingdom’s ground water resources, and increased cost-effectiveness in the provision of water and waste water services through reduction in trucking operations. 

“Today is a major milestone in terms of our partnership with the government of Jordan for water and sanitation operations — cost efficient, environmentally friendly, equitable and sustainable water supply and sanitation systems, for children and families,” said UNICEF Jordan Representative Robert Jenkins, voicing his appreciation for Germany's support to the project.

The network construction, which was financed by Germany through KfW Development Bankand, Canada, UK and the US is led by the Ministry of Water and UNICEF, the statement said, adding that the entire waste water network for the camp is expected to be completed by July 2018 followed by the water supply network by October 2018, the statement concluded.