Jordan Times
Friday, July 24, 2009
Gov’t will request
Israeli compensation for Jordan Valley fire - Masri
AMMAN (JT) - The government will demand compensation from Israel over losses
incurred by Jordanian farmers from a fire which erupted earlier this week in the
Jordan Valley, Agriculture Minister Saeed Masri said on Thursday.
Jordan will request the Israeli government pay JD26,000, the total amount of
damage sustained by farmers from a blaze which started from the Israeli side of
the Jordan Valley, Masri said yesterday, according to the Jordan News Agency,
Petra.
The blaze, which damaged Jordanian crops, started last Saturday as a result of
high temperatures and strong winds that carried the flames into the Kingdom from
Israel, according to the Civil Defence Department.
A joint committee formed to assess the damage caused by the fire completed its
report on Wednesday, indicating that 60 dunums of agricultural land at the
border was affected, worth some JD25,000 in damages.
The Jordan Valley's total agricultural area consists of 300,000 dunums, around
190,000 of which are planted with vegetables and the rest with bananas, grain
and citrus fruit.
Meanwhile, specialised technical committees from the Jordanian and Israeli
agriculture ministries met on Thursday to discuss joint measures to prevent the
spread of fires along the border, Petra reported.
During the last two months, a total of 40 dunums of Jordanian crops and another
25 dunums of non-agricultural land in the Kingdom were damaged as a result of
fires erupting on the Israeli side of the border, Petra quoted Masri as saying.
Masri said the technical committees also discussed issues related to the trade
of agricultural products between the two sides, adding that the government urged
Israeli authorities to open their borders to exports from the Kingdom.