AMMAN — The Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission
(IACC) has referred to the prosecutor general a case of suspected corruption
where officials at Ministry of Water and Irrigation are implicated.
اضافة اعلان
A statement by the commission said the officials
allegedly referred a tender worth about JD15 million to a bidder to dig seven
underground wells in an area south of Amman, against expert warnings related to
the quality and safety of the water at the location, an area called Khan
Al-Zbeeb, around 100km south of the capital.
Expert reports advised against the move, citing studies
that found “very high” temperatures and salinity levels in the wells, which
were also found to contain alpha and beta rays in quantities hovering around
20–50 times the specifications for drinking water in
Jordan, in addition to
traces of radium.
According to the IACC, investigations revealed that the
sitting minister at the time, who had been a partner at the said bidder before
assuming office, awarded the bid without heeding the warnings included in the
study, which was conducted by a British expert, along with a technical report
compiled by the
Jordan Atomic Energy Commission. Both reports agreed that
treating the water in the wells in question would be difficult and costly.
The project started in 2017, according to the statement,
when two bidders estimated the cost at JD26.796 million and JD26.998 million.
The decision was postponed till the next year, when the first bidder agreed to
lower the cost to JD14 million and was subsequently awarded the contract.
The Water Ministry “disregarded the regulations in effect
at the time, under which it was mandatory to coordinate the plan with the Land
and Survey Department and the Natural Resources Authority.” The latter had
conducted its tests and found “very high concentrations of uranium,” according
to the graft watchdog.
The ministry also failed to coordinate with the atomic
energy agency, ignoring the fact that the area was a concession zone as per a
previous Cabinet decision.
Read more national news
.jpg)
.jpg)
