On al-Wahdah dam

The Jordanian minister of waters and irrigation Hazem al-Naser has stressed that his ministry is persistent to build al-Wahda dam on al-Yarmouk river, adding that the ministry is in the phase of qualifying companies to start the implementation of this project as from March 2002, denying any new change to this effect.

In a report about this project issued on Wednesday by the Jordanian daily al-Rai, al-Naser noted that the decrease in the level of water flow in al- Yarmouk river is because of the years of drought that hit the region, a drought whose negative consequences started to surface this year.

For his part, the Jordanian water expert Fayez al-Abdullah, who is also a member of the national committee for dams, asserted the need of esablishing al-Wahda dam. He noted that the building of this dam is very important to meet water requirements.

Former water advisor a the Jordanian ministry of municipalities Saweilam Haddad said that the implementation of al-Wahdah dam is a national must because it will contribute to greatly solve the difficult water problems Jordan suffers.

To this effect, the Jordanian minister of finance Michael Martou denied any reservations in his ministry towards developmental projects sought to be implemented by the government and need to be financed like al-Wahdah dam. He stressed that the finacing o this dam had been ensured several months ago.