Jordan: New Environmental Police Swings into Action

UNCLAS AMMAN 003565 SIPDIS EPA WASHDC DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHINGTON DC USDA WASHDC SIPDIS State for NEA/ELA, NEA/RA, AND OES EPA for International/Medearis USDA For Forest Service/International Interior for International/Washburne E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV ETRD EAID PGOV JO SUBJECT: Jordan: New Environmental Police Swings into Action REF: 06 AMMAN 7727 ¶1. Summary: The Ministry of Environment's (MOE) recently formed enforcement corps of environmental rangers, known as the Environmental Police Department (EPD),has gotten off to an active start. The local press reports the EPD has issued over 4,000 violations since the beginning of the year. There are currently 600 EPD members and their numbers are projected to increase to 1,000. The U.S. continues to provide capacity-building training to the EPD, including a workshop planned for November 2007. MOE Minister Irani views the mandate of the EPD as a key environmental enforcement priority. End summary. ¶2. In an August 20 meeting with ESTH Hub Officer, Minister of Environment Khaled Irani noted the enforcement progress made by the Environmental Police Department (EPD) and the related statistics reported in the local press. He lauded U.S. support for the EPD in achieving its mandate of enforcing laws related to pollution, natural resources, forestry, car emissions, health, and other areas, and on helping them develop a sense of their mission, vision, and strategy. For example, a "Train the trainers" workshop with "real-life" experiences from the U.S. is planned for November 2007 with likely participation from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the National Parks Service. Minister Irani is keen to meet with the USFS team visiting Amman (August 25 - September 1) in order to prepare for the workshop. An Interagency Approach to EPD Management -------------- ¶3. The EPD is an important element in the MOE's enforcement mandate. Through the environmental law passed in September 2006, Parliament directed the NPD to assist technical agencies in enforcing a range of environmental laws, including those related to pollution, natural resources, forestry, car emissions, and health. While administratively the rangers are a unit of the Interior Ministry's Public Security Directorate (PSD),the MOE-led steering committee controls the policy. The steering committee also includes the Ministry of Agriculture, the Public Security Directorate, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the Ministry of Municipalities, and the Greater Amman Municipality. Environmental Police in Action -------------- ¶4. Statistics from English language daily The Jordan Times indicate that since the beginning of the year, the EPD registered 4,192 environmental violations: 1,586 in the agricultural and animal production and public health sectors; 1,459 infringements in vehicle gas emissions; 571 infringements in factories, industrial facilities and quarries; and 93 cases of wild and marine life abuse. Other breaches included 33 cases of illegal logging. The violators were fined amounts ranging from JD 20 (USD 28) to JD 25,000 (USD 35,250) and face jail sentences from one to twelve months. ¶4. There have also been smaller cases that garnered front page coverage. EPD penalized pedestrians for littering and issued tickets to two citizens for throwing rubbish on Wakalat Street, Amman's first pedestrian street, which was opened in mid-July by the Greater Amman Municipality in the up-scale Sweifieh neighborhood. ¶6. Additionally, in support of EPD monitoring, a PSD helicopter flies three times a month over "hot spots" in the country, such as Ajloun, Sahab, and the Jordan Valley. Together, these areas are home to more than 50 percent of the country's industrial facilities, agricultural sites, and natural forests. The PSD also monitors emissions from industrial facilities and reports violations to the EPD. ¶7. COMMENT: The press statistics are noteworthy and show the approximately 600 members of the EPD are not idle. The law enforcement background of all the EPD members, however, needs to be layered with increased knowledge of environmental issues as they move ahead with their mandate. USG support through the November 2007 workshop will be an important step in helping the EPD with capacity to complement its internal training with real-life experiences. END COMMENT. Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman HALE