Jordan Times
Friday, May 13, 2005
USAID mission director inaugurates Environment Street Project
The Greater Amman Environment Street urban
landscaping project located at the Jubeiha-Yajuz and Jubeiha-Abu Nseir
intersections of Jordan Street was inaugurated yesterday.
The project uses reclaimed water from the Abu Nseir Wastewater Treatment Plant
to irrigate water-efficient landscape plants planted within these major highway
interchanges, according to a US embassy statement.
The $6.9 million project was implemented by the US Agency for International
Development (USAID) in cooperation with the Greater Amman Municipality, the
Water Authority of Jordan and the Ministry of Environment through the USAID-funded
Reuse for Industry, Agriculture and Landscaping (RIAL) Project.
The three-year, RIAL project seeks to promote safe and practical use of treated
wastewater for agricultural and industrial purposes through reuse demonstration
activities, training and institutional support, the statement aid.
USAID Mission Director Anne Aarnes and Amman Mayor Nidal Hadid inaugurated the
project yesterday.
“This Environment Street Project demonstrates the close cooperation between the
governments of the United States and Jordan in addressing community and
environmental issues while maintaining a commitment to efficient use of scarce
water resources. This model project will serve as an important guide for future
landscaping development in the Greater Amman Municipality and all of Jordan,”
Aarnes said in remarks delivered at the event.
Construction of the project commenced in January this year and by the end of
April more than 85,000 trees and plants, including 36 different species, were
planted at the 75-dunum site. Installation of the irrigation system was
completed in April with more than 50km of irrigation pipe being laid.
A special purple-coloured pipe is used to indicate that the irrigation system
contains reclaimed water and not freshwater, according to the statement.
Irrigation water is delivered to the two intersections by tanker from the Abu
Nseir Wastewater Treatment Plant. The tanker trucks are also specially marked to
indicate that they contain reclaimed water.
Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abu Saud, Minister of Environment Khalid
Irani, Minister of Agriculture Yousef Shreiqi, as well as officials from the
Greater Amman Municipality, Water Authority of Jordan, USAID and the RIAL
project attended the inauguration.