Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The Council of Ministers decided recently to reclaim nearly 137 dunums of land in Sweimeh area on the Dead Sea shores that had been unlawfully "rented" by a former government official.

Minister of State for Legal Affairs Nawaf Ajarmeh told Ammon News on Monday that the government decided to reclaim the large areas of land after finding that the former state official violated the laws in an effort to rent and get services delivered to the lands.

Ajarmeh noted that Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour's government decided to rescind a previous decision issued by the former government in 2006 granting the former official the right to rent 112 dunums of Dead Sea land for the cost of JD 7.00 per dunum, as registered in the permit issued by the Jordan Valley Authority.

The former official rented 112 dunums, but was found to have later acquired another 35 dunums unlawfully, claiming a total of 137 dunums, the Minister told Ammon News.

The government procedures to grant rental agreements in the Dead Sea area are allocated to companies for tourism purposes, rather than to individuals, according to regulations issued in 1999, and must be approved by the concerned committees, the Minister explained.

Jordan Valley Authority reportedly granted the former official the right to rent the lands for agricultural purposes without the approval of the specialized committee, Ajarmeh said, adding his dismay at the low cost of land rental granted to the former official.

The government decided to rescind the rental agreement and reclaim the lands to the state treasury.

The former official had exploited his position for the purpose of receiving services to the rented plots of land, rented for a total cost of JD 959 per year for the 112 dunums on the Dead Sea shores, before he went further to acquire another 35 dunums on the shores.