His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday launched an initiative to carry out dozens of development and service projects in the country's 20 registered poverty pockets.

During a visit to Hashemia Municipality, near Zarqa, the King introduced the plan, promising the area's officials to “support any of the projects you propose, including those in partnership with the private sector.”

“The goal of my visit is to set priorities for the area and after three to six months I will come back here to see implemented projects,” said the King,

“I am aware of challenges and difficulties people face with regard to poverty and unemployment... We will work together to implement these projects,” he added.

In 2004, the government conducted a study in cooperation with the World Bank to identify the country's poorest areas in order to develop education and healthcare services, and infrastructure as well as job-generating projects.

The poverty rate among Hashemia's more than 50,000 residents is 29 per cent.

Some 400,000 people live in the country's poverty pockets, where the average poverty rate is 25 per cent; the highest, however, is in Rweished, where the rate goes up to 73 per cent, compared to a national average of 15 per cent.

During a visit to Iskan Hashemia Health Centre, the King also encouraged the acceleration of the facility's expansion into a comprehensive centre in addition to providing it with the necessary equipment, building up the capacity of its staff, and hiring a female doctor as there is currently none in the municipality.

The King also listened to local council members and promised to meet their demands in the education sector, including the renovation of some 22 schools in the area that involves outfitting many of them with extra classrooms and kindergartens.

“Many of the school buildings are very old and damp, and also have damaged restrooms,” Dalal Emoush, local council member and teacher, told the King.

Meanwhile, as more than 50 per cent of the municipality's arable land is unused due to a lack of roads, the Monarch ordered the construction of the necessary infrastructure to increase job opportunities.

Another project will build a public park, a market, a playground and a multipurpose room, in addition to providing the area with garbage containers and trucks.