Roads and Transportation

The Badia is connected with the main cities in the Kingdom through primary and secondary road networks, as illustrated in Figure 4. Road conditions vary, and many roads suffer from a lack of maintenance. The Badia region accommodates about 85% of the overland arrivals and departures from the Kingdom through 4 border and customs checkpoints. These crossing points represent 77% of the total transit to and from the Kingdom. Furthermore, 90% of trucks and transportation buses traveling across Jordan go through border and custom checkpoints in the Badia. Currently, plans have been implemented to convert Mafraq’s air force base into a commercial airport to serve a Mafraq duty-free zone. This is expected to have positive impacts on shipping and transit via the Badia. 

 Services and Facilities

 81% of the Badia dwellings are covered by a water network which addresses drinking and domestic usage needs. Industrial usage is mainly in the southern Badia. The total consumption of water during the year 2007 was 27 million m3, 24 million m3, and 43 million m3 in the northern, the middle, and the southern Badia respectively. About 94% of the Badia still lacks an adequate sewage system network. Landfills are used for the disposal of solid waste, while chemical and hazardous wastes are disposed in the Suwaga disposal site east of the Qatranah basin; this site is also used as the main disposal site in Jordan for hazardous and medical waste materials.

Figure 4: Road network in the Badia

   Information Technology and elecommunication                             

  Jordan Telecom provides land-based phone lines while various private companies provide cellular (mobile) networks. Mobile phone coverage is fairly widespread, and covers most of the main cities and villages in the Badia. As a result, many Badia inhabitants have come to depend on cellular networks rather than fixed lines. However, some areas are not covered due to the absence of a transportation network there; these areas are mainly parallel to Jordan’s border with Saudi Arabia.

Information technology has been introduced to and presented to local communities in the Badia through the multiple training stations spread throughout the Kingdom. There are 17, 50, and 46 training stations in the northern, middle, and southern Badia, respectively. These stations provide training, knowledge, and building capacity in the local community in the information technology field. These stations also save poorer communities from bearing the heavy costs of acquiring personal computers.

Financial Services

 Private banks are found in the Badia’s main cities, and provide basic banking services. Other service sources, such as loans, involve governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide micro-credit and other loans to local communities. In total, there are 7 banks and 18 credit corporations operating in the Badia. Despite this supply, lending is limited due to insufficient guarantees of repayment. Most governmental grants and loans are allocated for the development of agricultural and industrial projects, as well as for housing. The Development and Employment Fund and the Agricultural Credit Corporation are considered the main lending institutions for the people of the Badia.

Industrial Services and Activities                                                          

The key industrial activities providing private sector jobs in the Badia – approximately 70% - include garments and textiles, food processing, machinery, and chemicals. Food processing, mining and excavation, chemicals, nonmetal organic products, and metal manufacturing are concentrated in the northern Badia, while the central Badia is characterized by the garment, machinery, and food processing industries. The southern Badia is characterized by the chemical, mining and excavation, nonmetal organic products, and food processing industries.

The total number of industrial and commercial plants in the Badia is approximately. This figure is subject to increase as Royal Guidance, governmental plans and private sectors efforts are expected to increase the investment in the Jordan Badia.