VZCZCXYZ0015
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAM #1103/01 1060714
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 150714Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2249
INFO RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 3604
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 3857
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1131
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 4968

UNCLAS AMMAN 001103 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ECPS SOCI JO
SUBJECT: WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NO NAME: MAIL DELIVERY IN JORDAN TO 
BENEFIT FROM STREET NAMING PROJECT 
 
REF: Amman 815 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Historically, Amman has had an underdeveloped street 
naming and numbering system that has forced businesses to develop 
independent mapping systems based on landmarks.  The Greater Amman 
Municipality (GAM) is actively verifying that all Amman streets have 
names; confirming that street numbers are unique; and is installing 
building numbers and street signs.  These developments should allow 
the post office, the Jordan Post Company (JPC), to offer home 
delivery of mail and expand its current services.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Marwan Elayyan, Director of the Naming and Numbering 
Department within GAM, told EconOff that until recently Amman was a 
small town that could exist without street names or rely on 
descriptions like "the hill that goes to Ayesha's house."  Even 
today, Jordanians do not use addresses in describing where they live 
and or a desired destination, but instead rely on landmarks. 
Elayyah said a 1970's United Nations street numbering project 
resulted in 50 separate buildings with the same address: two Zahran 
Street.  This lack of street names in common usage has had negative 
economic implications, the largest being that there is currently no 
home delivery of mail. 
 
UNDERDEVELOPED ADDRESS SYSTEM SENDS COMPANIES TO CLIENTS 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶3. (U) Faraj Baseel, Country Manager of the transportation company 
Aramex, said that his company makes approximately 2,000-3,000 
deliveries in Jordan daily.  Aramex has developed a 700,000 name 
database for Jordan, which Baseel estimated was second in size only 
to that of the Jordanian phone company.  Baseel said the database 
uses street addresses when available, but also includes local 
landmarks such as mosques and schools to help drivers find 
individual homes and buildings.  Baseel said that his company 
attempts to use business addresses for delivery whenever possible 
because they are easier to find.  He added that his most common 
deliveries are credit cards, mobile phone bills, and passports with 
newly issued visas. Rawa Mirza, Communications Director for the 
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) which regulates all 
mail services, said that Aramex is second only to JPC in volume of 
international mail delivery.  Mirza noted that in 2006, 22 million 
JPC shipments were made, an average of less than four letters per 
person. 
 
¶4. (U) DHL Country Operations Manager Mazen Saba explained that DHL 
has also developed its own database and insists on a local phone 
number in order to retrieve additional directions, as needed. 
Marwan Hejazen, Country Commercial Officer for DHL, noted that 
although Jordan's address system is under-developed, the need for 
accurate addresses in the Middle East is less than in the U.S. 
because there is far less mail and people end up paying bills in 
cash and in-person. 
 
¶5. (U) Khalil Al Alami, CEO of International Cards Company (ICC) - 
Jordan's independent issuer of MasterCard credit cards - said that 
his company uses neither JPC nor one of the private delivery 
services to deliver credit cards or monthly bills due to security 
concerns and a lack of a safe governmental mail system.  Instead, 
the majority of his customers make their payments in-person.  While 
ICC has offices in malls and at local universities, it will send 
representatives to meet customers on a monthly basis at a place of 
the customers' choosing - i.e., at home, at work, at a coffee shop, 
etc., - to accept payment, which is most typically made in cash. 
Similarly, officials from two archaeology non-profit organizations 
said that they make all mail deliveries in-person, because the JPC 
is too unreliable and the express delivery services like Aramex are 
too expensive for newsletters and announcements. 
 
STREET NAMING AND NUMBERING PROJECT MAKES ADVANCES 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶6. (SBU) While the GAM naming and number office has existed for 
decades, the office began serious efforts in 2006 to ensure that all 
streets were named, buildings had a unique street number, and 
building numbers and street names were visible.  Elayyan said that 
all 9,000 streets in Amman are now named, with most major streets 
named after members of the royal family.  Elayyan expressed 
frustration that the royal family's complete names must be used 
(i.e., King Abdullah the Second Bin Hussein Street), since this 
forces the sign-maker to use a small font which impairs readability. 
 Other streets in Amman have been named after deceased dignitaries, 
martyrs, birds, plants, sister cities such as Chicago and Miami, and 
other Arab cities.  Elayyan said streets in Amman are named rather 
than numbered, because the hilly city is not on a grid system. 
 
¶7. (U) Elayyan said that the Amman signage project started actively 
in January 2008 and should take 12 - 15 months to implement at the 
cost of $14-17 million.  The project involves putting large, visible 
 
blue numbers on buildings and placing poled street signs at 40,000 
intersections.  The project is about 10 percent complete, with a 
significant number of buildings numbered, particularly in West 
Amman, and the first 100 intersection signs erected in March 2008. 
 
¶8. (U) Elayyan admitted that the next challenge will be to increase 
the common knowledge and use of street addresses, as most Amman 
residents only know the major street names.  He met with city 
officials to discuss giving cab drivers address tests, but received 
significant pushback given the number of illiterate drivers. 
Although many delivery companies have begun entering the new names 
and numbers in their databases, one DHL representative commented 
that Dubai's similar efforts have been faster and more successful. 
 
JORDAN POST'S SERVICES TODAY 
---------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) One of the beneficiaries of GAM's efforts should be the 
Jordan Post Company, a public shareholding company completely owned 
by the Government of Jordan.  JPC's services are provided through 
local post offices which provide mail and package services.  Ahmad 
Obeidat, Deputy General Manager of JPC, said there are 356 post 
offices in Jordan.  He explained that all towns with 2,000 or more 
residents have a post office, and that smaller towns may have a post 
office if they are the largest town in a region.  Mirza said that in 
addition to postal services, the JPC accepts payments for telephone, 
water and electricity bills; university applications; passport 
renewals; and telegrams.  Obeidat explained that these services are 
provided via a contract with associated ministries.  He said that 
ministries want to use the post office to provide such services 
because of its nation-wide reach.  National Aid Fund (NAF) General 
Manager Dr. Mahmoud Al-Kafawin said that aid disbursements are made 
at local post offices, because "it is the best way for the people - 
not the best way for the National Aid Fund."  He added that his 
organization has talked to banks and debit card companies, but said 
that banks do not have rural locations like JPC.  Mirza noted that 
in 2006, 900 thousand NAF disbursements were made, the majority 
using JPC (reftel). 
 
TAKING IT TO THE STREETS: JORDAN POST IN THE FUTURE 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶10. (SBU) JPC has been slated for privatization since 2002, but 
efforts have only recently been revitalized with the investment bank 
and consulting firm Lazard LTC currently examining the company's 
potential value.  In the meantime, Obeidat's goal is to make JPC the 
"logistics arm for the government."  He said JPC's capabilities were 
recently demonstrated when it distributed 200,000 subsidized housing 
applications in five days, as part of a new government program. 
Going forward, he is eager to offer all personal government 
services, such as car registration, drivers' licenses, and foreign 
worker permits.  Obeidat said that in 2007, the JPC broke even, but 
he expects a profit in 2008.  He predicted profitability will only 
come from a growing number of contracts with other ministries.  He 
admitted that his 200 rural post offices will never be profitable, 
but will always be subsidized by urban ones. 
 
¶11. (U) Mirza and Obeidat were optimistic about the potential for 
the street naming project to improve the quality and type of 
services offered by JPC.  Both said the GAM project must be 
completed before home delivery of mail can be piloted.  Obeidat 
explained that JPC has been working closely with GAM and together 
they are promoting a law requiring mailboxes in all multi-family 
dwellings.  He said that a home mail delivery pilot will likely 
start in Aqaba in early 2009, and Amman could follow later that 
year. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶12. (U) In many ways, Amman believes it is a small town, and 
Jordanians lament the rapid growth of the city.  Blogs that 
mentioned the street naming project said that the funds could be 
better spent elsewhere and that the official names will compete with 
the vernacular ones.  A systematic street naming system, while a 
symbol of the city's growth, may be of greatest benefit to foreign 
investors, the nascent direct mail advertising sector, and tourists. 
 A logical system will make it easier to operate in Amman and lead 
the capital closer to the goal espoused by Elayyan: "A livable city 
is an organized city with a soul." 
 
Visit Amman's Classified Website at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman 
 
HALE