Zarqa Municipality to receive JD11m loan from CVDB

AMMAN — The financially-troubled Zarqa Municipality is set to receive a JD11-million soft loan from the Cities and Villages Development Bank (CVDB) under an agreement the two sides signed on Thursday.

Under the agreement, the CVDB will pay the Zarqa Municipality’s accumulated debts to the Social Security Corporation, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

CVDB Director General Osama Azzam was quoted by Petra as saying that the government has approved to exclude Zarqa Municipality from the bank’s lending general policy, which requires that the loan value should not exceed 2 per cent of the state-owned lending institution, Petra said.   

Azzam said that the repayment period of the JD11-million loan is 10 years with a two-year grace period, according to Petra. 

The official added that the loan agreement aimed at aiding Zarqa Municipality’s service provision efforts, citing the north-eastern governorate’s status as the country’s gate to neighbouring countries.   

Zarqa Mayor Ali Abulsukkar has been quoted in local media outlets as complaining about the municipality’s inability to perform its duties as a result of the debts which, he said, have reached JD34 million. 

Emphasising that the debts were “inherited from previous municipal councils”, the Islamist mayor said that the municipality did not receive any assistance from the government in a years time.