Cement factory a source of environmental hazard to neighbors
Jordan, Environment, 3/11/1998

Cement is considered one of Jordan's leading exports. But Jordanians complain that the factory in which they work is polluting the air they breathe.

Jordan Cement Factory itself spent more than JD 30 million to protect the environment in the area surrounding the factory.

The production of cement never stops in Jordan. The factory produces more than 500 tons of cement every hour. Each year the factory produces about four million tons of the material, about one fourth of which is exported a year.

A similar plant has recently been established in the area. Nearly 3,000 people work in the new factory, mainly from the nearby town of Fihes.

The residents in the town itself complain that their environment is being polluted. The plant releases dust into the atmosphere and the people who live just outside the factory have been affected by the waste.

The factory's officials specified JD 30 million to improve the environmental safeguards. "We are implementing a plan since 1994 to operate the environment situation in the factory and to reduce the effects as much as possible," the director-general of the factory said. The system being operated reduces the factory's emmissions of dust by 80%.

"The plan now fully meets the international standards." officials in the factory say. Nevertheless the residents of the surrounding area are still unsatisfied with the results. Families living nearby the plant have been suffering from noise and pollution," Children suffer more" a father said," many of them are hospitalized" another citizen told Jordan TV.

Environmentalists have launched a campaign for protecting the environment. Some Environmentalists claim that the JD 30 million that was supposed to go into environmental equipment was instead spent to improve the production of the factory.

Previous Stories:
  King Hussein meets Israeli Industry and Trade Minister   (3/10/1998)
  Jordan's Crown Prince calls for social development   (3/6/1998)
  Jordan FM briefs parliament on privatization   (3/5/1998)

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