(MENAFN- Jordan Times) Jordan has demanded that Israel compensate its farmers for losses incurred in a fire that started in Israel and spread to the Kingdom earlier this month, according to a government official.
The fire, which erupted on July 5, damaged over 250 dunums of land and burned thousands of trees and wild plants in the Jordan Valley's Adasiyeh District, Agriculture Ministry Spokesperson Nimer Haddadin said.
"The fire has burned 80-100 per cent of 97 eucalyptus trees, 2,000 tamarix aucheriana trees, 100,000 sugar cane stalks, four alder buckthorn trees and six amber trees," Haddadin noted.
Five farms were damaged by the fire, which partially or completely burned dozens of mature citrus, guava and olive trees, some as old as 20 years, in addition to farm equipment.
"Minister of Agriculture Ahmad Khattab said that the government had contacted Israeli authorities via diplomatic channels and demanded compensation for farmers who incurred damages," Haddadin underscored.
The spokesman did not elaborate on the value of the damage or how much money the country was demanding from Israel in compensation.
The fire was ignited by Israeli authorities to get rid of dry grass in the border area. Firefighters from the Civil Defence Department and the Ministry of Agriculture worked several hours to extinguish the blaze, as the area was heavily covered with trees, bushes and dry grass.
In 2010, local authorities paved a side road on the east bank of the Jordan River as a firebreak. The measure aimed at preventing fires that erupt every summer in the border area, which witnessed two fires in 2009 and more than three in 2010.
A firebreak (also called a fire road, fire line or fuel break) is a gap in vegetation that acts as a barrier to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire, according to web sources.
The Jordan Valley's total agricultural area consists of 300,000 dunums, around 190,000 of which are planted with vegetables and the rest with bananas, grains and citrus fruit.
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