Khaberni - Citizens from the area of Safoot, part of the Greater Ain Al-Basha Municipality, complained about the financial impacts on them after the decision by the Ministry of Local Administration and Municipalities to change the usage of the main Safoot–Jerash street from “commercial exhibitions” to “linear commercial” areas.
They said that they were surprised, when they went to the municipality to complete transactions related to licenses or renewals of occupation permits, which are renewed every two years, to be asked to pay “organization fee” levies of five dinars per square meter of commercial land.
Store owners questioned the justification for imposing new organizational levies despite their stores being established and licensed for many years, stating that they had already paid all required fees and dues at the initial licensing, and obtained the occupation permits according to the legal regulations at that time.
They confirmed that the Greater Ain Al-Basha Municipality is not responsible for imposing these fees, noting that it showed cooperation with the citizens, and that the decision to change the organization status was issued by the Ministry of Local Administration.
They pointed out that the municipality had addressed the ministry to reconsider the imposed fees, however, it has not received any response so far, according to one of the informed citizens.
The citizens noted that some of the affected parties have resorted to the judiciary and filed lawsuits in the courts, but no judicial ruling has been issued so far.
The locals demanded that the decision not be applied retroactively, arguing that those who built in previous years and paid all the due fees for licensing should not be charged additional financial burdens, calling for the application of the decision to be limited to those applying for building or licensing after its issuance.
