Jordan Cement Factories Company (JCFC) will allocate around JD8 million in 2004 and 2005 to improve its pollution control system, a company official said Wednesday. According to JCFC Director General Samer Biriqadar, JD4 million will be spent this year and the balance next year will be used "to improve the firm’s filtering system." For several years, the JCFC has been addressing demands to cut down on dust pollution affecting the local community, particularly at its Fuhais plant, 25km west of Amman. According to the new two-year plan, Biriqadar said, the company will replace the filtering system it has now with another more environmentally friendly unit.
"We plan to remove the current filters and install new ones capable of reducing the dust generated from the cement production process," said Biriqadar. He said the new filters will reduce the dust generated from 100 to 30 milligrammes per cubic metre of cement produced. "This is more than the international standards stipulate, but it will ensure that the dust will pose no threat to human health," he said. The high-tech filters will be installed at the company’s Fuhais production facility.
The filtering system at the JCFC’s other facility, located in Rashidiyeh, 200km south of Amman, has already been upgraded in the past two years at a total cost of around JD6 million. The JCFC was established in the 1950s and is the Kingdom’s sole producer and supplier of cement with a daily production capacity of 14,000 tonnes.
The local market consumes much of the two plant’s production, and the rest is sold to the Iraqi, Syrian and Palestinian markets.
According to Biriqadar, the company is keen to continue to completely meet local demand and export the surplus to neighboring countries, mainly Iraq, which is set for major reconstruction efforts following the US-led war and occupation of the country.
