DEIR ALLA - Her Majesty Queen Rania on Wednesday instructed the Jordan River Foundation (JRF) to increase the provision of rotating loans to Deir Alla residents to establish income-generating projects in the district.
Queen Rania made the remarks during a visit yesterday to the district, where poverty stands at about 24 per cent and the unemployment rate is 10 per cent, according to JRF figures.
Her Majesty visited Al Rweiha village in the district and instructed the JRF to study the situation of village residents and address their needs.
The Queen, accompanied by JRF Director General Valentina Qussisiya, met with heads and beneficiaries of 12 community-based organisations operating in the area under the umbrella of the foundation and listened to their demands.
She was also briefed on the achievements and ongoing projects of the societies that seek to alleviate poverty and unemployment in the district, which has a population of 56,070.
To date, 1,000 families have benefited from JRF programmes in the area.
At the meeting, Mekhled Shehab, director of the Wadi Al Khaseeb Cooperative Society, reviewed projects implemented by the society in Deir Alla, such as extending rotating loans to area residents, building playgrounds for children and training young people on several skills.
The society, which was established in coordination with the JRF in 2006, includes 12 community-based organisations with 724 members, 261 of them women.
Besides providing loans to some 80 beneficiaries, the association has implemented various projects in the area such as a multipurpose community building that includes a small park and swimming pool for the local community, fully serviced apartments for traders who come from different countries and the Organic Fertiliser Treatment Factory, which was set up in coordination with the Royal Court under His Majesty King Abdullah's directives during a visit to the area in 2007.
Shehab noted that the treatment plant helped improve agricultural produce in Deir Alla farms and curbed the spread of flies in the area.
"The factory played a very important role in addressing the environmental problems in the district," he said.
Jordan Valley farmers have long used untreated organic fertilisers, which attract domestic flies due to their high percentage of humidity.
Fadda Dayyat, who benefited from the factory, said production improved in her 36-dunum farm after she started using treated organic fertilisers, as well as the quality of the agricultural produce.
The mother of five, who has been farming for the past 27 years, said she gives lectures to local farmers about the importance of using treated organic fertilisers.
"We have a big problem with flies here... I discovered that it is better to use treated organic fertilisers, which also causes no diseases in the crops," she told The Jordan Times yesterday.
During the visit, Queen Rania also met with participants in a basic life skills workshop held by the JRF to train 25 school dropouts.
Rajai Hamam, a part-time trainer at the Queen Rania Family and Child Centre, briefed Her Majesty about the session and its benefits.
In addition, Her Majesty joined a group of young volunteers who were planting trees on a plot of land in Al Rweiha village, as part of a JRF project launched in 10 governorates in celebration of the King's birthday.
© Jordan Times 2011
