The conservationists expressed fear that the facility will threaten the Kingdom’s less than one per cent forestland and discourage tourism in the area.

Environment experts said the establishment of the prison in Rmeimin would also pollute springs in the area, which are a drinking water source for residents of the village and neighbouring areas.

The prison is being built on a 39-dunum area overlooking Jerash, Rumman and the Scandinavian Forest, and nearby Rmeimin Castle, according to Ghazi Saudi, a member of the board of directors of the Friends of Archaeology and Heritage Society.

“What we fear is that the construction of the prison in this area will pollute Rmeimin’s springs and waterfalls which feed into the King Talal Dam,” Saudi told The Jordan Times.

He expressed concern that the establishment of the prison will also threaten the Royal Botanical Gardens, which house 400 kinds of wild flowers, some of which are considered endangered.

Rmeimin is a village located 15 kilometres from Salt Municipality’s centre. Web sources indicate that the village’s name originates from the Aramaic language and means “plentiful water springs and rumman (pomegranates)”.

The village is home to several archaeological and natural sites, including water falls and ancient olive presses and old buildings.

With a population of 3,000 people, Rmeimin is also known for its fruit and vegetable cultivation including apricots, pomegranates and bell peppers.

Saudi urged the government to consider relocating the prison to another area in south Amman and suggested turning the half-built facility into a visitors’ centre or a museum.

Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) Director General Yahya Khalid agreed with Saudi, highlighting that the concerned authorities did not carry out an environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the project.

“Under the Ministry of Environment regulations, every project, whether private or public, should carry out an EIA, but it is surprising to see that this was ignored,” Khalid told The Jordan Times over the phone.

“Private and public institutions should similarly be obliged to carry out an EIA; unfortunately the prison is already under construction but this should be considered in the future,” he noted.

According to Public Security Department (PSD) Spokesperson Major Mohammad Khatib, the department informed village residents about its plans for establishing the correctional facility three months ahead of construction, but no one expressed any objection.

“PSD teams carried out several studies before the establishment of the facility and found that Rmeimin is the most suitable area to establish the correctional centre,” Khatib told The Jordan Times.

He said no trees were cut during construction, but, Saudi claims that several trees, hundreds of years old, were uprooted.

Jordan Environment Society Executive Director Ahmad Kofahi expressed the society’s rejection of cutting forest trees.

“Jordan is already one of the poorest countries in terms of natural resources, especially trees; the establishment of the correctional facility in Rmeimin is unjustified,” Kofahi said, calling for its relocation.