Jordan Times
Friday, April 16, 2004
Transit zone on eastern border to be ready next month
By Khalid Dalal
AMMAN — Construction work on a 150-dunum zone located on the Kingdom's eastern
border with Iraq is expected to be completed by the middle of May, facilitating
the flow of goods between the two countries, a government official said on
Wednesday.
“When the zone is ready, Jordanian truck drivers will carry shipments bound for
Iraq from the Port of Aqaba or Amman to the zone, and Iraqi truck drivers will
transport the cargo from there to Baghdad or any another Iraqi city,” Ministry
of Transport Secretary General Alaa Batayneh said.
The Jordan Truck Owners Association (JTOA) has been asking the government, since
the US-UK invasion and occupation of Iraq, to establish such a zone due to the
lack of security on the highway connecting Amman with Baghdad inside Iraqi
territory. The unsafe conditions compelled many local truck drivers to stop
carrying shipments to the war-stricken country.
“Since the fall of Baghdad, over 300 Jordanian truck drivers have been attacked
and robbed on their way to deliver shipments in Iraq,” JTOA President Abdul
Majeed Habashneh said.
The zone, he said, will also grant Jordanian and Iraqi drivers equal
opportunities to transport goods between the two countries. Currently, Iraqi
truck drivers carry around 70-80 per cent of shipments bound for their country
from the sea outlet of Aqaba.
Another reason for the zone's establishment, Batayneh said, is because the World
Food Programme {WEF), which has been relying on Aqaba as its major corridor to
channel humanitarian assistance to Iraq, is expected to boost its operations in
the near future.
“This necessitates solving problems that face Jordanian truck drivers,” he said.
Over the past year, the WFP has sent more than 600,000 tonnes of humanitarian
aid to Iraq through Aqaba Port. “The number is expected to increase to 2 million
tonnes soon,” Batayneh said.
Adel Rabadi, director general of Naber & Co. International Forwarders, a major
transport firm in the country, welcomed the idea of the zone's establishment,
describing it as “a step in the right direction.”
Such a facility, he said, will definitely enhance transport movement between
Jordan and Iraq and ensure the safety of Jordanian drivers.
Before the war, over 600 trucks used to ply between Amman and Baghdad, but after
the US-led invasion, their numbers declined to less than 100.
Jordan's 10,000 truck-strong fleet are capable of conveying 500,000 tonnes of
goods to Iraq on a monthly basis.