The head of the Parliamentary Agriculture, Water and Badia Committee, Muhammad Al-Alaqma, demanded the necessity of finding radical solutions to the issue of water prices imposed on farmers in the Azraq regions.

Al-Alaqma’s speech came during his chairmanship of a committee meeting held today, Sunday, in the presence of the Minister of Water and Irrigation, Muhammad Al-Najjar, the Minister of State for Legal Affairs, Nancy Namrouqa, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance, Abdul Hakim Al-Shibli, the President of the Audit Bureau, Ibrahim Al-Majali, the President of the Farmers’ Union, Ouda Al-Rawashdeh, and a number of farmers in the Azraq region. .

Al-Alaqma stressed the importance of developing an action plan based on cooperation and partnership with all parties related to the agricultural sector that benefits everyone, adding that the committee is proceeding in accordance with the lofty royal visions that emphasize the importance and development of the agricultural sector and its advancement.

At the same time, he stressed that “parliamentary agriculture” will work to support farmers and stand by them in all issues, in order to achieve their legitimate demands.

Al-Alaqma and members of the committee also stressed the necessity of reducing water prices, and exempting Azraq farmers from the water prices incurred by them, in addition to re-pricing the Azraq Basin and overcoming all obstacles facing them.

In turn, the deputies members of the committee stressed the need to discuss the obstacles and challenges facing the sector, especially the problems of high costs of energy, labor, transportation, the water bill, land authorization, as well as taxes imposed on the inputs and outputs of the agricultural sector.

Al-Najjar, for his part, said that his ministry is concerned with implementing the laws, regulations, and instructions in force, adding that we are an executive body, meaning that we implement the law.

He pointed out that the exemption is done by directing a letter to the Council of Ministers, stressing that the Ministry, for its part, will support this demand when it is discussed in the Council of Ministers.

For her part, Namrouqa said that addressing any problem requires a legal basis, adding that the water meter should be installed on the well, if the well is “licensed” and not registered with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation.

She explained that there is coordination between the Ministries of Finance and Water in this regard.

At the end of the meeting, Al-Najjar and Namrouqa affirmed their readiness to solve the Azraq farmers’ problem and present it to the Council of Ministers, with the aim of finding appropriate solutions for them.

In addition, the demands of Azraq farmers were summarized by the need to adopt the calculation of the quantities of water consumed inside the farm according to the reading of the meter installed on each licensed well, and to increase
Allowing the use of artesian well water like the rest of the Kingdom, calling for the need to calculate a unified tariff for a cubic meter of water.