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AMMAN — On World AIDS Day, which falls on December 1, health professionals are celebrating Jordan's place among the countries with the lowest AIDS rates in the world, according to the Ministry of Health.

Hadeel Ashaari, the director of the ministry’s communicable diseases department, said that a survey conducted in December of 2018 covering all communicable diseases showed that around 260 Jordanians were diagnosed with AIDS at the time, and until now no additional cases have been discovered.

The ministry survey revealed that those diagnosed with the disease mainly contracted it through sexual intercourse and not through infected needles or other publicly-shared items.

“Health clinics in Jordan follow a strict hygiene code when it comes to items allocated for multi-usage, and most, if not all, use disposables,” said Hiyam Sarayrah, a doctor at the ministry, in previous remarks to The Jordan Times.

Out of the 260 citizens, 229 are currently receiving free treatment at various medical centres across the Kingdom, according to Ashaari.

She added that the treatment is offered to citizens for free, while foreigners are deported immediately.

The department’s former director Nashaat Taani noted that “as soon as citizens are diagnosed, we refer them to the nearest health clinic and track their latest activities lest they had accidently communicated the disease to someone else”.

He noted that the treatment is “highly effective” and that “patient life expectancy increases after receiving it”.

The total number of patients recorded in Jordan, including those who have passed away and those who are still living, is around 450, Sarayrah noted.

According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the most recent published estimate of lifetime HIV treatment cost was $379,670, so providing it for free “is a great health privilege for the citizens”, Sarayrah said.

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June Criminal Court ruling to sentence an Egyptian man to 20 years in prison after convicting him of attempting to rob and murder a man and his wife in Zarqa in August 2018.

The court declared the defendant guilty of stabbing the two victims, who are Bangladeshi and Indonesian nationals, on August 21 and handed him the maximum punishment.

Court papers said that the defendant lived next to the victims, who owned a small shop adjacent to their house in a Zarqa neighbourhood.

“The defendant wanted to return to Egypt but did not have enough money, so he decided to rob the couple to support his travels,” court papers said.

The defendant decided to “rob the shop when the female victim was working alone”, according to court documents.

On the day of the murder, the court maintained, the defendant headed to the victims’ shop and asked the female victim if she had change for JD50.  

“The defendant attacked the victim with the knife and she fell to the ground and started screaming,” the court documents said. 

The victim’s husband, who was sleeping in the house, heard the screams and went to check on her, court papers added.

“The defendant also stabbed the husband with the knife on different parts of his body, took JD650, and left,” according to court papers.

Both victims were rushed to a nearby hospital and survived the stabbing incident after medical intervention, the court papers said.

The defendant did not appeal the verdict while the Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the sentence.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Yassin Abdullat, Bassem Mubeidin, Hammad Ghzawi and Naji Zu’bi.

AMMAN — The Jordanian Businessmen Association (JBA) on Saturday launched the Jordan-Tunisia Economic Forum.

“Jordan is accessible to both Arab and countries from around the world through a number of trade agreements,” JBA President Hamdi Tabbaa said, adding that the Jordan Investment Commission (JIC) now has a “clear vision to attract investment and stabilise legislation for that purpose”, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

“Even though Jordan and Tunis are signatories in the Greater Arab Free Trade Agreement and the Agadir Agreements, the volumes of bilateral trade and investment fall short of the two countries’ expectations and do not reflect their respective capabilities,” Tabbaa added. 

The JBA president invited stakeholders in the Tunisian private sector to explore Jordan’s investment opportunities, particularly those offered by economic sectors of high added value. 

JIC Chairman Khaled Wazani said the commission seeks to develop and structure procedures that enhance the Kingdom’s investment environment in cooperation with partners from both the private and public sectors. 

Three international reports have highlighted the growth of Jordan’s investment environment, including the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business Report”, in which Jordan’s ranking rose 29 places this year.

Wazani announced that 50 carefully studied investment opportunities across the Kingdom will be announced within the next 10 days, covering various economic sectors. 

The JIC chairman noted that a unit within the JIC has been commissioned with following up on investor affairs and grievances. 

For his part, President of the Confederation of Tunisian Citizen Enterprises Conect Tarak Cherif said that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries amounted to JD101 million last year, compared with JD86 million in 2017, marking a 16 per cent increase. 

AMMAN — Tabarbour merchants have appealed to the Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) to obtain compensation for damages and losses due to the Greater Amman Municipality's (GAM) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, which began in the area in June 2019 and is expected to last for two years.

“GAM's bus project was a severe blow to merchants and landlords, as it reduced mobility in Tabarbour area, which led to a severe setback in their sales,” President of the ACC Khalil Haj Tawfiq told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

The challenges facing Tabarbour merchants are “tremendous”, due to road closures and obstructions, detours and infrastructure work for the BRT project, causing 60 shops to shut down and large flows of BRT-affected people to seek help from the ACC, the president said.

“The long-term bus project has had an impact on the business of more than 200 store owners, and until now a total of 87 formal delegations have gathered and gone to the ACC,” Haj Tawfiq added.

A committee of the affected traders has been established to pursue the matter with the chamber’s board in order to put together the case file for estimating the amount of damage and find a mechanism to meet the needs of traders, according to Haj Tawfiq.

“Certain measures and committees of expertise will be part of counteracting the negative impact of the bus project by obtaining data about the loss of earnings in comparison with the net profits of the past three years,” the ACC president added.

The ACC board will discuss this file on November 30 with the aim of drawing a strategic plan to ensure the rights of Tabarbour merchants, he said, adding that about a month ago, Amman Mayor Yousef Shawarbeh stated that any affected trader in Tabarbour’s Tareq area should take advantage of the law to claim their rights.

Tareq area traders and landlords had only two options in facing the scenario of shutdowns: Either to resort to the law, which takes time, or appeal to the ACC, the president added.

“The ACC will endeavour to assist the traders and help them survive this setback,” he said.

“The merchants voiced their concerns about this project, which has created a ‘blockade’ on the area. As a result, this case is of significant interest to the ACC,” Haj Tawfiq added.

AMMAN — HRH Princess Sumaya, president of the Royal Scientific Society (RSS), launched the Charter of Ethics of Science and Technology in the Arab Region at the World Science Forum 2019 in Budapest on Friday, according to an RSS statement.

Sharing a platform with Minister Plenipotentiary Maha Bakhiet Zaki, representing Secretary General of the League of Arab States Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Science in Arab States Ghaith Fariz, Princess Sumaya said that the landmark document “marks a longing by our region’s researchers to harmonise their skills, their credentials and their capacity for joint research in a truly globalising world of science”, according to the statement.

 The princess noted that the charter began as an initiative at a regional consultation in Beirut in July 2017, and is the result of an 18-month multi-stakeholder consultation process in which more than 500 experts from across the Arab world provided input, the statement said.

The charter is an umbrella ethical instrument that aims to ensure that science and technology "truly serve" human development in the Arab region, the statement said, noting that in particular, the charter frames science and technology activities in the Arab region, supports an environment that enables science and technology to thrive, protects science and technology workers and outcomes and guides science and technology activities away from non-ethical practices that could harm the individual, society or the environment, the statement said. 

“With the enormous support of UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science in the Arab States, the RSS and a coalition of other Arabic science academies and institutions, a draft of this document was prepared and distributed at the previous World Science Forum in 2017, hosted by the RSS at the Dead Sea in Jordan,” added the princess.

“It was there that a special session was devised and dedicated to developing the charter we see today.” 

AMMAN — A total of 73 private hospitals comprise 60 per cent of all hospitals in Jordan, Chairman of the Private Hospitals Association Fawzi Hammouri said on Saturday, noting that investment in the private hospital sector amounts to JD3 billion.

Hammouri said the sector employs 35,000 people in related specialties, more than 95 per cent of whom are Jordanians, and 60,000 working in supporting specialties, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

He added that 32 hospitals have received certificates from the Health Care Accreditation Council and 10 hospitals have received international accreditation. Reviewing the challenges facing the sector, Hammouri noted that the outstanding Libyan debts to Jordan’s hospitals and accumulated due payments by the public and private insurance companies are top priorities, and called on the government to revise regulations that negatively affect the sector.

He said that increasing sales tax on medical supplies from 4 to 16 per cent and the income tax on private hospitals from 14 to 16 per cent are among regulations that limit the sector’s competitiveness, adding that the increased 22.75 per cent social security subscription fees for workers in the sector are “extremely high” compared to other countries.

AMMAN — A total of 17 participants from the Iraq Ministry of Electricity and the Kurdistan Region Ministry of Electricity on Saturday completed technical training and specialised in administrative programmes conducted by the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO).

NEPCO General Manager Amjad Rawashdeh said that the company has offered training programmes since 2004 to participants from Iraq, Yemen and Palestine under the Third Country Training Programme as part of a memorandum of understanding signed with the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Rawashdeh noted that NEPCO has completed six training programmes out of 12 agreed to be implemented for personnel from the Iraq Ministry of Electricity and the Kurdistan Region Ministry of Electricity for the 2019 fiscal year.

He added that in the coming weeks, the six remaining programmes will be completed, resulting in 145 Iraqi trainees benefitting from the programme in 2019.

AMMAN — In an effort to empower refugees, UNHCR Jordan is training and employing refugees in Zaatari camp in Geographic Informations Systems (GIS), through the programme RefuGIS.

The programme, which began in 2016, employs 13 Syrian refugees to map the camp, and has also recently begun working with the Mafraq sub-office to provide services there, External Relations Officer for UNHCR Mohammad Al Taher told The Jordan Times in a recent phone interview.

According to the UNHCR’s website, Zaatari Camp is home to over 76,000 refugees. With its large size, there is a need for the tracking and mapping of services such as water supply and community centres. 

Employees working for the programme come from various professional and technical backgrounds and received training from Brian Tomaszewski, an associate professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, as well as through Al Balqa Applied University and Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Taher said.  

In one instance, the GIS team mapped out the 57 community centres, run in the camp by a variety of organisations. The group examined the youth activities offered at each location and created a database, Taher said. 

They then reviewed the activities offered at each centre to determine which programmes were popular or needed, using that information to offer suggestions on which programmes should be expanded and which should be eliminated, the officer added. 

Taher noted that the organisation offers up to 5,000 job opportunities for refugees in the camp, the vast majority of which do not require technical training, with employees rotating every three or four months. 

He added that the team supports many functions in the camp, including the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene system. 

“We never anticipated it would be so important,” RefuGIS Manager Marwan Zoubi recently told The Jordan Times. 

Zoubi said that GIS is significant for building and maintaining communities, and that prior to joining the team, he “wasn’t aware of how necessary the job was”. 

He said that if he and other refugees get a chance to return to their native Syria, they can use the skills they have learned to help rebuild their country. For now, the team is training other refugees in the same line of work. 

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah has warned that the continued absence of prospects for a just, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue, the Middle East’s central cause, threatens regional and global stability and security. 

In a letter to Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People Cheikh Niang on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People marked annually on November 29, King Abdullah also warned that unilateral measures, including land appropriation and violation of international law and human rights, would only fuel conflict and frustration, thus empowering extremism, according to a Royal Court statement.

His Majesty called for stepping up efforts to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state solution, which would achieve just and comprehensive peace, leading to the establishment of the independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967, lines with East Jerusalem as its capital — the solution in line with international law and relevant UN resolutions.

The King reaffirmed that the two-state solution is the only realistic and implementable solution. The alternative is an apartheid state with unequal laws.

His Majesty also stressed Jordan’s commitment to the Hashemite Custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, noting that the entire international community has a responsibility towards safeguarding the holy city.

Jordan will continue working to preserve the Arab identity of Jerusalem and support the steadfastness of Arab Jerusalemites, while countering any attempts to alter the historical and legal status quo in the holy city, the King added.

 His Majesty underscored the importance of resolving the final status issue of refugees to ensure the right of return and compensation, noting the need to provide support for UNRWA to enable it to continue its humanitarian services and duties towards guaranteeing a decent life for refugees, the statement said.

In the letter, the King also expressed support for the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in its efforts to galvanise international support for the Palestinian cause, commending its role in defending the rights of the Palestinian people.

AMMAN — The 2020 draft state budget law saw a rise in domestic revenues to reach JD7.754 billion, registering an increase of 10.4 per cent from the JD7.021 billion reestimated in 2019.  

The government referred the draft state budget law for 2020 and budgets of independent public institutions to the Lower House on Thursday which expected 66 per cent of the 2020 revenues to be generated from tax return, 25 per cent from non-tax resources and 9 per cent from grants, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The deficit in 2020 budget is estimated to reach JD1.247 billion after grants, constituting 3.9 per cent of GDP, up from JD1.215 billion in the re-estimated value for 2019.

Before grants, next year’s deficit was estimated at JD2.054 billion, or 6.4 per cent of GDP, compared with JD2.018 billion of the reestimated deficit in 2019, constituting 6.5 per cent of GDP.

Foreign grants are expected to reach JD807 million in 2020, nearly the same as the reestimated value in 2019.

Revenues generated from income and sales taxes are expected to reach JD207 million and JD591 million respectively. 

Tax revenues are expected to increase by JD853 million to JD5.651 billion compared with JD4.798 billion reestimated for 2019. 

Meanwhile, non-tax revenues are expected to see a 5.4 per cent drop to JD2.103 billion in 2020, down from the JD2.223 billion reestimated for 2019.

Current expenditures are expected to constitute some 85 per cent of the public spending in 2020 with an estimated value of JD8.383 billion, while capital spending is to form 15 per cent with JD1.425 billion.

Unveiling the 2020 state budget, Finance Minister Mohamad Al-Ississ said that the law took into consideration the government’s plans to stimulate investments and economic growth rates through increasing capital expenditure by 33 per cent.

Al-Ississ said that the government increased the allocations for the national aid fund by JD30 million in the budget law to reach JD146 million.

The minister also said that the government has informed a delegation from the International Monetary Fund that it will not incresase taxes and will move ahead with its endeavour to lower unemployment rates and cut production costs.