His Majesty King Abdullah on Saturday gave instructions for the construction of a 30-bed hospital to serve the Quweirah area, 50km to the north of Aqaba.



The gesture was made in response to appeals by the area residents who, along with thousands of people from all parts of the governorate, lined the sidewalks of Aqaba to greet His Majesty the King.



During the tour, the Royal motorcade stopped every now and then and the King stepped down to shake hands and chat with tribesmen under tents erected on the sides of Aqaba's main street.


Aqaba Governor Khalid Awadallah said the idea for building the hospital was initiated in 2002 but a lack of funds and proper coordination between concerned authorities had put the vital project on the shelf for three years.


The King instructed that JD1 million be allocated immediately to start building the medical facility, which will also serve the highway linking Aqaba with the capital, where many accidents occur.


King Abdullah also directed authorities to extend a helping hand to the 500-dunum Al Haq Farms in Wadi Araba, which was built by the Jordan River Foundation in cooperation with the Aqaba Governorate to help people in that underprivileged area.


The farm was irrigated by a local dam, designed to store 225,000 cubic metres of water, but scant rainfall in the past seasons aborted the plan. The farmers then resorted to an underground well, but its pumping capacity dropped by half leaving them without a source of living. The farm now relies on water transported by tanks from other areas as a temporary solution.


Upon the King's directives, the water authorities will work out a solution to this problem, according to Awadallah.


The King's Aqaba tour is the second in a planned series of visits to the Kingdom's 12 governorates to have a firsthand look at people's needs.