MAFRAQ ( Petra ) — Prime Minister Adnan Badran on Tuesday told community leaders in this northeastern district that a 70-bed military hospital would be built in the area, as well as a 50-bed public hospital in the Northern Badia .

During a tour of Mafraq accompanied by a ministerial team, Badran said he had requested the Jordan Armed Forces to draw up designs for the military hospital in order to begin with construction work by the end of this year.

As an immediate response to citizens' demands with regard to improving the Hashemiyeh-Balama road, the premier decided to allocate JD1 million.

Badran also allocated JD500, 000 for the construction of a tunnel on the road connecting Al al Bayt University with the city of Mafraq , and an additional JD500, 000 to improve the Safawi-Mafraq road.

He also designated a forest area in Dajayneh to set up a youth camp, and a 30-dumum plot for a cemetery.

Badran promised to review Al al Bayt University's debts, and ways to help it pay them off. He also said he would examine the possibility of establishing a qualified industry zone in Mafraq.

During the visit, Badran tasked Interior Minister Awni Yarvas with forming a committee to find a solution for the hundreds of stateless residents in the badia area.

Mafraq Governor Fawaz Irsheidat briefed the premier on the governorate's major demands, which include the establishment of a cultural centre and a multi-purpose hall. He also pointed out the need to complete a sewer network project in the governorate and ease Mafraq Municipality's debt, estimated at JD8 million.

Several deputies from Mafraq as well as citizens demanded that a solution be found for poverty and unemployment, saying that six poverty pockets out of 20 Kingdom-wide were located in the governorate.

Ministers took turns to respond to queries and demands from the area residents.

Minister of Social Development Abdullah Oweidat assured community leaders that National Aid Fund assistance had been resumed for 250 of the 350 families in the governorate who are beneficiaries of the aid. The remaining 100 families' cases are being studied.

He also discussed other plans in the area such as the ongoing construction of housing units for the poor and a plan to donate JD1,000 to each charity in the governorate.

Planning and International Cooperation Minister Mrs. Suhair Al-Ali said that 13 municipalities have competed on obtaining a 30 million euro European grant to build corporate capacities within the intended municipalities, and that the winning municipality will be announced within a month.

She further stated that an amount of JD5 thousand will be allocated to support the establishment of the First Economic Assembly to be held in Mafraq, adding that the ministry has assigned JD10 million to deal with poverty pockets in the Kingdom, noting that an intension lies in redefining basis by which those pockets are defined.

Education Minister Khalid Touqan told the gathering that 20 schools were under construction in the district, while Health Minister Saeed Darwazeh said 17 new health centres would be built in the area and the existing state-run hospital in Mafraq was set for expansion.

According to concerned ministers, more funds will be allocated for road building, projects to build municipal capacity, debt exemption for the area's 18 municipalities and plans to improve the drinking water quality in Mafraq, among others.

During his tour of the area, the premier inaugurated a dairy products factory run by a local society that takes care of juveniles, orphans and unemployed youth.

He also toured Al Hassan Industrial Estate in Irbid, where some 21,000 workers are employed, the majority of them Jordanian.

Officials announced that planned investments in the estate would create around 1,000 additional jobs.