Greater Amman Municipality launches touristic projects at Wadi Al-Akhdar

Mayor of Amman, Engineer Omar Maani said that the Municipality will start implementing the initiatives, most likely in the coming period, noting that such initiatives will contribute to creating an attractive and promising environment for tourism in the area which hosts archaeological sites that speak of different historic periods.

Maani was speaking during a meeting with the region's residents on an iftar banquet, attended by his advisor for districts affairs, Mahmoud Al-Armouti, head of the local committee of Wadi Al-Seer district, Idrees Sandouka, and the district's director. The meeting was also attended by deputies of the City director, CEOs and directors of GAM departments.

The Mayor said that work will commence soon to rehabilitate the main street in the area, which links Wadi Al-Seer with Iraq Al-Ameer, going through Wadi Al-Akhdar area.

He stressed that GAM is currently meeting the needs and demands that were previously raised by the residents. Among these are the expansion of Abu Al-Sous Street in Wadi Al-Seer at 4 km, linking Abu Al-Sous town with the industrial zone and the surrounding residential areas.

Maani noted that the street is part of the Municipality's plan for next year, to build a street island and complete the complementary works. He said the street was damaged by citizens and GAM is working to solve these issues, both fairly and legally.

Work is also underway to provide a piece of land estimated at 4400 square meters, to build two playgrounds for football, along with another one for basketball on a total area of 2000 square meters. Such plan is part of GAM's support to youth and sports in the area which lacks the sports facilities. Maani said the building of these playgrounds will start soon.

Work is also underway to survey all streets in Wadi Al-Akhdar to implement the naming and numbering system in, at least, two weeks after Eid Al-Fitr holidays. In response to many demands raised by the citizens, Maani instructed GAM cadres to speed up the rehabilitation of the bus terminal at Wadi Al-Seer area, and remove the plant built for repairing trash bins from the terminal.

In the same context, several claims were made by citizens who asked Maani to increase the financial allowances of their district. Maani said such allowances are being distributed according to certain standards and criteria, namely the heavy population and size of the area that ensure fairness among all districts.

Maani renewed his call to speed up the formation of a taskforce from the citizens to define priorities of the region, which require a huge load of work that will be divided into several phases due to the region's hard topography.

A dialogue was commenced between Maani and the citizens, during which he answered their remarks. Maani pledged to follow-up on their demand to build a street that links Iraq Al-Ameer area with Al-Kafreen, in cooperation with Ministry of Public Works and Housing, since the project is outside Wadi Al-Seer's organizational boundaries. He also stressed the need to provide enough cleaners in the area to keep the nature clean.

Citizens have raised many demands including the need to provide lighting for the street that links Wadi Al-Seer with Um Qaseer, to stop those who exhume trash bins, and to rehabilitate the street between Wadi Al-Seer and Marj Al-Hamam (Al-Thuhair). They also called for providing a proper solution for 500 houses located at Al-Madaq neighborhood in Wadi Al-Akdar, which are threatened by unstable rocks, and establishing a popular souk for vegetables and fruits in the area, as well as sunshades for bus stops.

Head of the local committee of Wadi Al-Seer district, Idrees Sandouka briefed the Mayor about the needs and demands of Wadi Al-Akhdar area, notably the street extensions, playgrounds and Information Technology centers. He pointed that the area needs 10000 square meters of street openings and another 10000 square meters of asphalt mixtures.

Sandouka stressed that over 20000 square meters of these mixtures were executed in Wadi Al-Akhdar, in compliance with the 2008 annual plan.

On his part, Dr. Musa Al-Husami thanked the Mayor for his readiness to study demands of the citizens as well as their remarks that aim at serving the region.

Before the meeting, about 200 aid packages of foodstuffs, blankets and sports wear were distributed to the needy people in the area. The packages were part of GAM's annual 'Tribute to the Late King Hussein' campaign.

It is worth mentioning that the population of Wadi Al-Akhdar is estimated over 16000 people, living in an area of 30 square kilometers. The area includes Iraq Al-Ameer, Al-Bassa, and Al-Hamidiya.