By Hana Namrouqa

http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=27878

AMMAN – Health and environmental conditions in the northern village of Souf, home to several freshwater springs, will be improved under a project to revamp sewage services, a government official said on Monday.

Under an agreement signed yesterday by the Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) and USAID, an 8.5-kilometre sewage pipeline will be replaced to prevent wastewater leakage in the village, located in Jerash Governorate.

“Under the project, an existing pipeline that passes through valleys in the Souf area and leaks sewage will be replaced with a new one to be constructed under high standards and quality,” WAJ Secretary General Munir Oweis told The Jordan Times yesterday during the signing ceremony.

Oweis said the project, co-funded by USAID and the WAJ at an estimated cost of $4 million, will be implemented by a local engineering firm. Work on the rehabilitation of wastewater services in Jerash is slated to begin next month and scheduled to be completed within a year.

“A total of 75 per cent of people in Jerash receive sewage services. A project to establish a new wastewater treatment plant and extend sewage services to more villages in Jerash will start soon,” Oweis highlighted.

Meanwhile, USAID Deputy Mission Director Dana Mansouri, who signed the agreement yesterday with Oweis, underscored the importance of the project in addressing public health and environment problems in Jerash Governorate.

“The project seeks to ensure clean water is provided to all citizens of Jerash,” Mansouri said, stressing that unsanitary water can lead to childhood cancer and several other diseases.