Jordan Times
Tuesday, August 24, 1999
Sheikh Hussein Bridge officially opened
AMMAN (Agencies) — Jordan and Israel on Monday officially opened the Japanese-funded border crossing facility at Sheikh Hussein Bridge linking the two countries, describing it as a key pillar of their peace treaty.
“This bridge is one of the cornerstones of the edifice of peace which we all hope to build upon,” Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib said in a speech at the ceremony.
Khatib said Japan is considered a real economic partner in the development of the Middle East and by financing the project it has proved its support for closer cooperation towards building the future of the region.
He paid tribute to the late King Hussein who had sought comprehensive and just peace, and praised the efforts of the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who was a part of such endeavours.
Khatib's Israeli counterpart David Levy told attendees at the ceremony that: “This is a small bridge but it holds great hope which expresses the will of both nations to go ahead with the peace process.”
Khatib walked the short distance to the Israeli side to shake hands with Levy and then both linked up with Japanese Ambassador to Jordan Koichi Matsumoto for the cutting of the ribbon in the middle of the bridge.
The chairman of the standing committee on foreign affairs in Japan's parliament, Koki Chuma, said: “It is Japan's sincere hope that lasting peace will be attained soon (in the Middle East) in order to bring about stability and development in this region.”
“It is a great honour for Japan to have an opportunity to participate in such a project which is one of the fruits of the peace process and the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel,” he said.
According to Chuma the 90-metre-long and 12-metre-wide bridge cost JD 4.2 million. It is considered a major route through which Jordan can export goods to Israel and its port in Haifa for shipment to the U.S. and European markets.
The Japanese firm Sumitomo Construction Co. Ltd. built the Jordanian side of the bridge and the Jordanian border post under a $7 million grant from Tokyo.
Jordan contributed JD3 million for the infrastructure, while Israel spent an unknown amount to build its own section of the bridge.
Construction was finished in March 1998, and the bridge was opened to passenger traffic — mostly businessmen and tourists — and goods in November 1998.
The Sheikh Hussein Bridge and the Wadi Araba crossing in southern Jordan are the only two overland border crossings between Israel and Jordan, unlike the King Hussein Bridge, known to Israelis as the Allenby Bridge, which joins Jordan and the West Bank.
The four-lane suspension bridge is located in northern Jordan around 50 kilometres south of Lake Tiberias.
Khatib said he hoped that the new bridge will help bolster the volume of trade and further facilitate the movement of travellers between Jordan, Israel and Palestinian territories.
Overall annual trade between Jordan and Israel hovers around $40 million.
He reiterated Jordan's support for the resumption of Syrian-Israeli and Lebanese-Israeli negotiations, saying “we are concerned with the achievement of a comprehensive peace which can be attained through negotiations and we hope progress will be achieved on the Palestinian-Israeli track as soon as possible since the Palestinian issue constitutes the essence of the problem.”
Khatib said Levy had briefed him on Israel's contacts with European Union officials who visited the region lately to discuss the peace process.
Khatib said he urged his Israeli counterpart to move ahead with steps towards the implementation of the Wye River accord and the release of the detained Palestinians in Israeli jails so that progress can be achieved in the peace process.