AQABA -- A regional food and environment monitoring laboratory to safeguard the sustainable development of Aqaba's burgeoning tourism industry and economic zone was officially launched on Thursday.
Ben Hayyan Laboratories is part of a European Union-funded 10-million-euro programme entitled "Institutional Support for the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority" (IS-ASEZA).
The initiative is designed to guide the development of the Kingdom's southern economic zone through technical assistance, infrastructure and capacity building in three primary areas -- tourism, environmental and food testing, and trade.
"The establishment of the laboratories is considered one more important achievement for ASEZA, which intends to drive sustainable development in the zone, Jordan and the region," ASEZA Chief Commissioner Nader Dahabi said.
Six million euros of the total amount allotted to IS-ASEZA by the EU and an additional five million euros contributed to the programme by ASEZA financed the development of the laboratories.
Beginning in late 2002, construction of Ben Hayyan was put on hold temporarily in the spring of 2003 after the invasion of Iraq, resuming in November 2003.
The laboratories, including equipment supplied by the European Commission Delegation at a cost of over seven million euros and the certification of the lab according to European standards, were completed in early 2006.
They will be fully accredited this summer according to International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 17025 -- a general requirement for laboratories worldwide involved in testing and calibration.
"The laboratories are the trade window to the world and will help the country in approximation of its trade policies and regulations towards European and international levels," Ambassador Patrick Renauld, head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Jordan, said in his address at the launch.
"The lab will ensure the regional consumer is at the same level as the European and international consumer," he added, referring to the food inspection laboratory in particular, which examines samples of imported and exported food moving through Aqaba Port, as well as samples of food consumed in the local markets.
Guided by the needs of regulatory agencies and other entities involved in food safety, the Ben Hayyan laboratory undertakes the physical, chemical and microbiological analysis of imported and exported foodstuff. It will act as the Kingdom's only food inspection laboratory and regional hub for products destined for markets abroad.
Future plans include the Kingdom's first food and virology lab for testing genetically-modified organisms and pesticides formulation, as well as detecting veterinary drug residues, including hormones and antibiotics, in food samples.
The environmental laboratory provides analytical and sampling services for water, air, soil, plant and bio-solids in the region.
Most notable in Ben Hayyan's environmental wing is the construction of the air quality monitoring unit, which records and assesses ambient air quality, stack emissions measurement, air pollution dispersion modelling and occupational air quality.
"Part of ASEZA's mandate and responsibility is to safeguard the health of the local population and visitors to Aqaba... and to protect the environment and the quality of its natural resources," Dahabi said.
IS-ASEZA's work towards the development of Aqaba's tourism industry parallels the construction of the Ben Hayyan Laboratories.
The laboratory's mandate to ensure the zone's foodstuff and air quality are compatible with international standards and helps sustain the continuing development of Aqaba's growing tourism industry.
"The vision behind this laboratory was to establish a centre of excellence that would be able to promote food safety and value protection through cooperation with regulatory bodies in Aqaba, Jordan and the region," Khaled Qtaishat, IS-ASEZA's component manager for Ben Hayyan, explained.
"We will be contributing to a better world by improving the quality of life of people through safe food and safe environment and facilitating trade within Jordan and the region," he added.
Over 70 job opportunities have been created since the laboratories opened in 2006. Since then, ASEZA has allotted JD200,000 towards training and capacity building programmes held in cooperation with Ben Hayyan's peer institutions in the region.
Recruitment programmes in the port city have focused on acquiring local technical expertise.
"We want to develop [our local employees'] skills and build their capacities so that they will stay with the lab" Qteishat said, referring to the Jordanian researchers and technicians employed at the two laboratories.
IS-ASEZA has implemented similar recruitment programmes in the tourism sector, advertising various employment opportunities available to young graduates living in Aqaba.
"We want this laboratory to become a regional hub that will connect with institutions, universities, research centres and other laboratories, not only in Jordan but also in the region," Qtaishat said.
"We want to contribute to the development and the creation of trade opportunities and to market Aqaba as a training hub for food and environment safety."
By Cheryl Haines
© Jordan Times 2007
