Issawi meets with community figures from Southern Badia

AMMAN — In implementation of Royal directives, Royal Court Chief and head of the follow-up committee for the implementation of Royal initiatives Yousef Issawi met with a number of local community figures from the Southern Badia on Tuesday.

The Royal Court-held meeting followed up on His Majesty King Abdullah’s requests to address the needs of locals that came during His Majesty’s visit to the southern region last week, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Issawi highlighted His Majesty's directives to alleviate burdens on citizens, notably poverty and unemployment, adding that the King has stressed the need to optimise the resources and potential of the Southern Badia, especially in the agriculture, tourism and mining sectors. 

To facilitate this, several agricultural projects in the Kingdom's northern, central and southern Badia regions were announced by His Majesty.

The first stage entails the allocation of 9,000 dunums of land for families in the Badia regions to set up agricultural projects, with 3,000 dunums of land for each Badia, he said. Issawi noted that the area will be increased to 36,000 dunums, at a rate of 9,000 dunums per region, in the coming stages.

All requirements to implement the first phase of the project have been completed, including identifying the sites and completing necessary technical tests of the water and soil, he said. Issawi added that implementation will begin soon, in cooperation with the Jordanian Armed Forces, *****Al-Haq Organisation *****and the relevant ministries.

Intended to serve Badia families, the project entails the distribution of agricultural units to be used for growing crops suitable for the Badia’s natural environment and according to the needs of the market, he added.

Al Haq will manage and operate the project, including training the initiative’s beneficiaries.

A package of initiatives, including the construction of 200 housing units for underprivileged families, and the creation of two factories in Wadi Araba and Al Jafer to generate 200 and 60 job opportunities, respectively, was launched in February.

The initiatives also include the establishment of a centre for people with disabilities in Wadi Araba, the completion of the stadium of the Sports City in Aqaba, and the establishment of a five-a-side stadium in the Sultani region.

Issawi said that all projects are to be implemented in coordination with related bodies within a specific timetable, noting that priority will be given to productive agricultural projects and job-generating factories.