Jordan Times
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Plans for new border
crossing point ready
Ministerial team visits Karameh border centre
By Mahmoud Al Abed
AMMAN — Blueprints are ready for a government plan to establish a new crossing
point at the border with Iraq in a bid to facilitate the flow of passengers and
goods between the two countries, Interior Minister Awni Yarvas announced on
Saturday.
Yarvas said the new centre would be located four kilometres inside Jordanian
territory to make more room for trucks queuing up at the border.
However, immediate remedies are necessary because of the increasing traffic
across the present Karameh border crossing, he added.
According to official figures, 178,000 people crossed the borders from Iraq into
Jordan last year, while 183,000 entered the eastern neighbour from the Kingdom.
However, in just the first three months of this year, 118,000 travellers entered
the Kingdom from the Iraqi side and 119,000 crossed into Iraq from Jordan.
Yarvas, accompanied by a ministerial team, visited the Karameh border centre
yesterday, to have a firsthand look at the situation.
The ministers were briefed by border officials, who complained about the
restricted area allocated for custom clearance and the fact that there was only
one entrance to the border from either side.
Yarvas told The Jordan Times that the current level of activity was not expected
when the centre was designed. However, the proposed new centre would be able to
do its job smoothly for the next 50 years, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted
him as saying.
The ministerial team also included Minister of Public Works and Housing Yousef
Hiasat, Minister of Transport Saud Nseirat, and Minister of Industry and Trade
Sharif Zu'bi.
The ministers are members of a follow-up committee that will, within days,
receive and respond to a report prepared by border officials on how best to
facilitate traffic and solve the problems at hand.
Some procedures will not wait for the panel's recommendations. The interior
minister said all border crossings would soon start using devices to scan
passports electronically. The technology is expected to speed up the checking
process 10-fold and consequently shorten the long queues of passengers waiting
to get their travel documents stamped.
Border centres will also be staffed with adequate manpower to handle the
expected increase in visitors, especially during the summer when thousands of
expatriates from the Gulf and West Bank residents usually head to Jordan to
visit relatives and spend the holidays here.
The ministers visiting Karameh also looked into facilities offered to Iraqi
businessmen planning to invest in the Kingdom, Petra reported.