Gov’t announces issuance of last batch of payments for 510 indebted Jordanian women

AMMAN — Marking the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Abdul Nasser Abul Bassal on Monday announced the issuance of the sixth and last batch of payments to cover the debts of 510 gharimat (indebted women).

Combined, the debts of the 510 women, some of whom have been jailed, stands at JD451,110, according to a statement that was carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The minister, who also heads the follow-up committee for the implementation of His Majesty King Abdullah’s initiative to support the gharimat, said in the statement that all 510 cases were dropped and the subsequent warrants cancelled.

On March 30, the Zakat Fund announced that His Majesty would cover the debts of 1,500 of these women, who have mostly borrowed from microfinance funds and other lenders.

Contributions from various institutions, enterprises and individuals followed the King’s donation and the fund was tasked to supervise the execution of the initiative.

The debts of the gharimat, whose loans ranged between JD1,100 and JD1,200 and meet the criteria set by the committee for the implementation of the King’s initiative, are to be covered by the fund.

Overall, a total of 6,481 gharimat have benefited from the Royal Initiative, at a total of JD6.3 million in debts paid out on their behalf, the statement added.

King Abdullah, in a call-in with Jordan Television’s Friday morning show “Yise’d Sabahak” on March 22, saluted all Jordanian mothers on the occasion of Mother’s Day, and called for a joint national effort to support indebted Jordanian women unable to pay back loans they had taken to support their families.

The fund has already paid all the raised funds, the minister said, noting the conclusion of the initiative that embodied the solidarity of Jordanians.

Abul Bassal concluded by drawing attention to the ongoing “Sahm Al Gharimat” programme, the “female debtors stake”, to which JD500,000 was allocated to help release women imprisoned for failing to pay debts.