Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Lafarge Jordan announced on Saturday that it was giving its workers at the Fuheis cement factory a three-month paid vacation to reduce costs.

The paid vacation went into effect as of March 2, according to Lafarge, which said in a statement that it guarantees full commitment to the financial and administrative rights of the cement factory workers during the paid leave.

The decision excluded a number of workers whose administrative jobs necessitate their presence at the factory, according to the statement, a copy of which was made available to The Jordan Times.

"Resorting to such a difficult procedure is a necessity in light of the halt in production lines at the Fuheis cement factory since 2013, while packing and grinding at the factory continued until July 2016," the statement said.

The decision seeks to reduce financial costs at the cement factory and also protect the health and safety of the workers against any accident that might happen at the facility, the statement added.

The company operates two cement factories in Jordan, one in Fuheis, which is 20km northwest of Amman, and another in Rashadiyeh in Tafileh Governorate, which is 180km southwest of the capital.

The Rashadiyeh cement factory was established in 1983 by the original company, the Southern Cement Company, which was merged in 1985 with the Jordan Cement Factories Company, which, in turn, was subject to privatisation and bought by Lafarge.

Fuheis cement factory, established in the 1950s, stopped operating in 2013 due to pressure from the local community over its environmental impact.

The residents of Fuheis have been protesting against the cement plant for many years, claiming that dust and chemical emissions harm their health. They have been also calling for the closure of the factory and its relocation.

An official source at Lafarge underscored that the three-month paid vacation "is not meant to pave the way for layoffs", indicating that the decision was taken after consultation with related agencies.

"Around 200 workers are included in the decision, which seeks to reduce variable costs, such as water, electricity and transportation. It also seeks to eliminate any accidents that might happen to the workers at the factory while it is not operational," the source told The Jordan Times.

The Lafarge source did not comment on the fate of the workers once the paid vacation ends, indicating that "while it is still unclear, the company deems workers' full rights as its priority".