Khaberni - The Minister of Local Administration, Walid Al-Masri, said on Saturday that the municipalities' debt has exceeded 630 million dinars, noting that the original budget of the municipalities is 420 million dinars.
Al-Masri, during the discussion of the finance parliamentary committee on the general budget law for the fiscal year 2026, added that the world’s municipalities' debt margin does not exceed 25%, including salaries, pointing out that some municipalities in Jordan have salary proportions reaching 75% of their budget.
He mentioned that the ministry has devised a plan to ease the debt burden in cooperation with the creditors, through its repayment according to agreed upon time periods.
Al-Masri indicated that the municipalities are supported through fuel revenues.
He clarified that 110 million dinars of the municipalities' debt are owed to contractors, and that the government has assumed this debt.
Al-Masri also mentioned that the ministry has a municipal investment observatory, and we can offer many investment opportunities, provided that they are not managed by the municipalities themselves.
The minister said that the amount of uncollected rentals owed to the municipalities from their leasing projects reaches 30 million dinars.
He added that the local development program funded by the World Bank, USAID, JIZ, and other international programs has been halted, while only the European Union's program to support municipalities continued.
The minister spoke about the Azraq landfill, which is completely a green sanitary landfill, indicating that the management of solid waste needs to change, as all countries worldwide have moved towards privatizing this industry.
He affirmed that the ministry will work on establishing solar energy stations in Ghor Al-Safi and Ghor Al-Mazraa to save the use of electricity in these areas.
Al-Masri pointed out that the ministry has succeeded in reducing the fly problem in the Jordan Valley.
