AMMAN, 25 March 2008 — Citing legal reasons, the Jordanian government said yesterday that it had “terminated” an agreement already signed with a Pakistani-Chinese coalition of firms for building a light railway between Amman and the industrial city of Zarqa.
“From a legal viewpoint, the documents presented by the coalition included a number of issues that violate the reference conditions and the agreement for the construction and operation of the project at the agreed time,” Transport Minister Alaa Batayneh said.
The agreement for the implementation of the $216 million project was signed during the World Economic Forum conference at the Dead Sea resort in May.
The winning coalition included Pakistan’s Sadullah Khan & Brothers, CETC International of China, Infrastructure Development Company, Hycarbex American Energy and the United Jordanian Contractors. The group won the contract in competition with a Dutch-Egyptian-Jordanian consortium and a Spanish-Kuwaiti consortium.
The Jordanian government originally set Feb. 22 as a deadline for the Pakistani-Chinese coalition to finalize its financial details, but agreed to grant the group another month that expired on March 22 for completing the project’s financial procedures.
Work on the project, which involves a commuter train running on a dual-track 28 km railway from Amman to Zarqa, was scheduled to start on June 22 and be finished within 30 months.
