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AMMAN — A Royal Decree on Tuesday was issued for the restructuring of the Hashemite Fund for the Development of the Jordan Badia's (HFDJB) board of trustees as of April 12, a Royal Court statement said.

Under the leadership of Sharifa Zein Bint Nasser, the members of the newly appointed board will be: Hamdi Tabbaa, Shehada Abu Hdeib, Mohammad Zuhair, head of Central Badia department, chairman of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority’s board of commissioners, secretary general of the Ministry of Education, secretary general of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, secretary general of the Ministry of Agriculture, secretary general of the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, chairman of the Jordan Trail Association, Qutna Huwaitat, head of Southern Badia department and Farra Masaed, head of Northern Badia department.

AMMAN — The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) on Tuesday granted two companies licences to install fibre optics and provide general telecommunications services.

TRC Chief Commissioner Ghazi Jbour said that the TRC granted a licence to Al Nafath Arab Company to install fibre optic cables from Amman through Zarqa to the Iraqi border, linking up with the fibre line inside Iraq, according to a TRC statement.

Jbour said that the licences will enable the Kingdom to export telecommunication services to neighbouring countries and enhance its international role in data transfer via the Internet.

The TRC also granted a licence to the Arab Mashriq Space for Technology company to provide telecommunication services.

AMMAN — Minister of Culture and Youth Mohammad Abu Rumman on Tuesday sponsored the 2019 cultural city inauguration ceremony at Theeban, a town southwest of Amman, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During his inaugural speech, Abu Rumman said Theeban will witness a number of cultural, creative and artistic activities throughout this year, and that the district’s heritage and history will turn it into a significant cultural centre.

He affirmed the need for internal unity in the face of external pressures, adding that the cultural movement should be an extension of the political movement due to the various political and economic challenges facing the Kingdom.

AMMAN — Transport Minister Anmar Khasawneh on Tuesday said the Transport Ministry will launch works to renovate the King Abdullah and Prince Rashed complexes in Zarqa to integrate them with the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project grid.

In a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Khasawneh added that his ministry will be working on evaluating the current state of the complexes in respect to the BRT.

During his visit to Zarqa, the minister also checked on the status of transportation networks and listened to the challenges and issues facing citizens, drivers and those working in transportation.

He pointed out that the Transport Ministry is working on upgrading public transportation in the governorate, adding that once the BRT study is complete, the infrastructure in Zarqa will be prepared to allow for modern buses to be in use.

AMMAN — The Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) on Tuesday signed a twinning agreement with the Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JACCI) in Jerusalem, with the aim of strengthening economic and trade ties between Jordan and Palestine and supporting the Jerusalemite’s steadfastness against the transgressions of Israeli occupation.

President of the ACC Khalil Hajj Tawfiq and JACCI President Kamal Obeidat signed the agreement, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. Under the agreement, the ACC designates an area within its facilities in Amman for the JACCI to conduct business and support the Palestinian national economy.

The deal also stipulates designating a wing for Jerusalemite products at the ACC’s planned permanent Palestinian products exhibition.

The agreement also encourages Jordanian and Palestinian businessmen to invest and do more business with each other, as well as establishing more effective means and channels of communication between the members of both chambers.

AMMAN — Italian President Sergio Mattarella landed in Amman on Tuesday for a seven-day visit to Jordan before touring Zaatari camp, to have a first-hand look at services extended to refugees and to identify their needs.

Zaatari camp is a unique experience, not because it is one of the largest refugee camps in the world, but because of the level of services offered to Syrian refugees and its organised management, Mattarella said, adding that he valued the Kingdom’s humanitarian efforts.

Italy is committed to supporting refugee-burdened Jordan, the president said. Mattarella also expressed his appreciation for the Kingdom’s role as a centre for stability in the Middle East and underscored the need for more international and UN support to alleviate Jordan’s burdens.

During his visit, Mattarella also toured the Italian-Jordanian Hospital in Mafraq, 80km northeast of Amman, as well as “Oasis” — safe space for women and girls and a crafts centre organised by UN Women, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Minister of State for Investment Affairs Muhannad Shehadeh said that the Kingdom had been put under pressure and assumed onerous burdens in the fields of services, security and education, calling on the international community to stand by the Kingdom and help alleviate the Syrian crisis’ burdens and support Jordan.

The projects and services designated for Syrian refugees are monitored in cooperation with 45 UN agencies working in the camp, head of the Syrian Refugees Directorate Bilal Omari said.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi also briefed Mattarella on the camp’s upgrades, along with challenges hindering their work.

Later on Tuesday, the Italian president and his daughter visited Beit Al Liqaa Centre for Special Needs in Madaba, Petra added.

Inaugurated in July of 2012, Zaatari camp near the Syrian border, 100km northwest of Amman, is among the largest refugee camps in the world, housing over 83,500 Syrian refugees, according to official figures.

AMMAN — The United Nations Secretary General’s Humanitarian Envoy Ahmed Meraikhi recently visited Wihdat refugee camp to check on the facilities and services provided to Palestinian refugees and meet with refugee families, according to a statement sent to The Jordan Times on Tuesday.

Meraikhi visited the medical centre at the camp, where he was briefed on healthcare services provided to over 60,000 refugees, the statement said.

Afterwards, he visited a girl’s school, where he met with a number of students and members of the student government.

During the visit, he spoke with the students about the importance of education as a platform for growth, the statement added.

“We recognise the challenges UNRWA is facing, as well as the growing demand on the various services provided to a growing demographic of refugees,” Meraikhi said.

Reaffirming international support for Palestinian refugees, he also reiterated the importance of maintaining stability in Jordan and the Middle East, calling on all UN member states to “rise to the occasion again this year, as they have done in years past, to continue supporting the agency and Palestinian refugees”.

The purpose of the visit was to ensure that UNRWA refugees get the aid they need, according to the statement.

UNRWA Jordan Operations Director Mohammad Adar said he hoped that Meraikhi’s visit, as a member of the community and a UN envoy, would shed light on the importance of the agency’s work.

“His visit will highlight the impact of the agency’s work on the lives of Palestinian refugees, and convey the right messages to the donor community and the public,” Adar noted.

Qatari musical composer Dana Fardan also accompanied the UN envoy, ahead of the UNRWA Ramadan campaign.

Her participation in the visit came as part of a joint UNRWA campaign with the Qatari Red Crescent, entitled: “Hope for Gaza”.

The statement also said that Fardan had composed a song called “bloom” for the campaign.

UNRWA provides education services to more than 121,500 students through 169 schools, the statement said.

The New Amman Camp is one of four Palestinian refugee camps run by UNRWA, and established in the years following the occupation of Palestine in 1948 and the inception of the Israeli state, that same year.

It was established in 1955 and expanded by UNRWA in 1957, the statement said.

The camp has one medical centre and 13 schools, UNRWA said, in addition a number of other societal and developmental facilities.

AMMAN — Jordanian photographer Mohammed Zakaria’s images deconstruct the notion of “home” in an attempt to grasp its philosophical connotations beyond its prevailing function as a means of housing.

Taking part in the 8th Image Festival Amman, Zakaria displayed his personal journey of self discovery to the public. The photographer’s images of basic domestic objects also currently hang on the walls of the Cervantes Institute.

Zakaria started his career as a computer engineer but after three years realised that the corporate world was not where he belonged, he said. Soon after, he carried on with casual skateboarding photography and embraced creative practice as a tool to serve his philosophical curiosities.

"In my work I take the usual interpretation of solitude to another level as I view it from an angle completely contrary to alienation," Zakaria has said in a recent interview with The Jordan Times.

With no intention to offer something new to the viewer; Zakaria said he "strived to find interest where interest does not belong."

“I was not trying to impose something new; these things in their simplicity are beautiful, very basic stuff that we usually don’t pay attention to,” Zakaria said.

The photographer added that he sought to re-establish a relationship with his home, without having any preconceived ideas as to what a home can be.

“What was important was how the work came about. The concept was vague in the beginning with no solid understanding. What I tried to do was to approach this journey the same way I would take the camera and explore a new city,” Zakaria said. “So I tried to do the same inside the house; carry the camera and catch anything that would stop me.”

Zakaria said that individuals usually recognise themselves in relation to someone or something else, and that such a realisation of one’s true self can be achieved through the idea of home, which is a reflection of our identity.

“Solitude is very important. If you can’t bear to sit with yourself; if you can't befriend yourself, this means you’re a boring person.”

“The exhibition communicates to the viewers by the sum of its parts — the whole,” Zakaria said, adding that his interest in collecting visuals was a means to get to know himself more.

Zakaria also said that, if he can get in touch with his identity in that sense, so can a lot of people who can relate to this way of exploring oneself.

“There is a difference between appearing the way you want people to think of you, and your true identity, which appears in how you behave when you are completely indifferent,” the photographer said.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah, the Supreme Commander of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army, accompanied by HRH Crown Prince Hussein on Tuesday presented the King’s Colours to the 2nd Al Hussein Mechanised Battalion of the 90th King Abdullah I Mechanised Brigade — a formation of the Eastern Military Region.

The handing over of the banner is a tradition that started in September 2015, and is the highest military honour awarded to an army unit in appreciation of its role in defending the homeland, according to a Royal Court statement.

Since its formation in 1942, 170 personnel of the 2nd Al Hussein Mechanised Battalion have given their lives in the line of duty, the statement said.

King Abdullah, accompanied by Crown Prince Hussein and received by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Freihat and senior army officers, was greeted at Al Rayah parade grounds with a 21-gun salute.

Royal family members and senior officials and officers attended the ceremony, the statement added.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Omar Razzaz on Tuesday issued a memo to all ministries and governmental associations to implement the recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of human rights endorsed by the Jordanian government.

Director of the Prime Ministry’s Human Rights Department Khalil Abdallat reaffirmed that the government was committed to implementing the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council.

The government endorsed 149 UPR recommendations after they were reviewed by the permanent human rights committee at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, he added, according to a statement to The Jordan Times.

Work is underway to formulate a plan for the execution of a clear four-year strategy with measurable objectives and a precise timeline, the official underlined.

The presentation of the UPR has helped strengthen partnerships between the government, national institutions and civil society organisations, Abdallat said in the statement.

Other components, such as corporate social responsibility will be integrated into the plan to boost partnerships with the private sector, he noted.

These endorsed recommendations will serve the interests of the nation and its welfare, by enhancing the status of human rights in Jordan, he added.

Recommendations pertaining to the status of women are generally of interest to the countries that put forward the UPR, Abdallat stressed. The same goes for child rights and the status of people with disabilities, he continued.

Other recommendations are related to torture, judicial prosecution, administrative detainment and freedom of speech, the press and opinion, among others underlined in the review, the human rights official stated.

The government has also endorsed those recommendations, the statement said.

As for the recommendations not endorsed by the government, Abdallat explained that they would be reviewed at a later time, reiterating that they are no less important.

More than 13 civil alliances, 21 individuals and 60 institutions submitted their statements to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right in one report, Abdallat highlighted.

These joint efforts, he said, lay the foundations for institutionalising human rights works in Jordan and the partnerships that support this endeavour.