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AMMAN — The National Campaign for Defending Students' Rights (Thabahtoona) on Tuesday issued a statement calling on the Ministry of Higher Education to tackle the lack of healthcare services at Al al-Bayt University, complaining that the institution has been “suffering from the absence of a health centre on campus for more than three years”.

“Student healthcare is a basic right, not just a university service,” the statement said, warning that the closure of the health centre at the university three years ago has “forced students to be treated at the Mafraq Public Hospital, which is more than eight kilometres away from the university campus”. 

The campaign also complained that “a healthcare agreement was signed between the university and the Ministry of Health in 2016, according to the guide published in the university’s official website, but its provisions have not yet been activated”.

“Although Al al-Bayt University is an official university and is thus required to provide health services free of charge, the university administration pays a health insurance fee when the new student is enrolled in the university, and a fixed amount is deducted from students when they enroll in the subsequent semesters,” Thabahtoona added.

The Ministry of Higher Education's only comment was that “each university is administered independently and this issue falls under the power and authority of the university administration”.

For his part, Al al-Bayt University President Dia-Eddin Arafah told The Jordan Times that “the university has taken several actions concerning this problem”, noting that the administration has approached the Ministry of Health to go ahead with the provisions signed in the agreement referenced by Thabahtoona in their statement. 

In this regard, Arafah commented that an additional appendix was signed by the Ministry of Health in May 2018 after “legal issues” between the university and the ministry, paving the way to reopen the centre in the campus and arrange the necessary operations and equipment. 

In addition, Arafah noted that the university received a letter in June 4 stating that the Ministry of Health had designated the personnel to be part of the new centre, and that all legislation, special conditions and equipment needed were arranged by June 26.

“The matter was transferred to the university’s tender department on Monday, and the centre shall be reopened in no more than two months,” Arafah announced.

The issue has also been raised by student groups at the university, who launched a social media campaign and met with competent authorities such as the Deanship of Student Affairs, the vice president and the General Services Department to discuss issues related to healthcare services at the campus. 

“A final meeting was held yesterday with the university president in order to discuss the reasons behind the closure of the health centre three years ago,” Al al-Bayt University student Manar Junidi told The Jordan Times, noting that “the university administration stated that the closure of the centre came after legal issues between the university and the Ministry of Health based on the delay of payments from the university and the resulting shortage in medical staff to serve the students”.

Arafah confirmed having met with the students and informing them of the issues causing the delay in the application of the agreement between the university and the Ministry of Health, adding that “several documents are available to support this claim”.

AMMAN — A three-storey residential building collapsed in Zarqa city on Wednesday, killing three persons and injuring seven others, a Civil Defence Department (CDD) source said.
"The building collapsed at 6:00am Wednesday. It was undergoing reconstruction, which is the most likely reason for the collapse," the source told The Jordan Times over the phone Wednesday.
Civil Defense personnel are working to rescue others trapped under the rubble, said the source.

AMMAN — Secretary General of the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO) Ayman Mifleh on Tuesday said that the  JHCO in cooperation with the concerned authorities has sent 37 aid trucks into Syria.

Mifleh told Al Rai and The Jordan Times that he expected the number to double as of Thursday as a result of an agreement to open three safe corridors inside Syria to facilitate the entry of aid for displaced Syrians in cooperation with the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF).

The aid convoys are laden with essential relief and foodstuffs, the daily added.

Following a field visit to the northern frontier on Sunday, Prime Minister Omar Razzaz unveiled a national aid campaign to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people inside their country. 

On his Twitter account, Razzaz said that the campaign would be administrated through the JHCO with the aim of unifying all relief efforts and sending urgent assistance to the “Syrian brothers inside their country”.

JHCO announced on Monday it would receive donations in its warehouses in Mafraq in order to follow up with the national campaign on supporting people in Syria, which was launched by Prime Minister Omar Razzaz on Sunday.

In cooperation with the JAF and other stakeholders, the organisation already started delivering aid convoys which were donated by the Moroccan Mohammad V Foundation for Solidarity.

The JHCO is calling on donors willing to participate in the campaign to contact 0096265523190 or 00962795477354.   

AMMAN — Dozens of homes in Jordan have been retrofitted to meet "green" standards, allowing their inhabitants to enjoy a healthy indoor environment and reduce their energy and water consumption.

Project leaders say green living is a human right for all, regardless of income or social status.

The right to a green home 

Ensuring this right, especially for underprivileged families, has been the focus of the Jordan Green Building Council’s (GBC) "Green Affordable Homes" project, according to project coordinator Ayah Rabab’ah.

Part of the Moving Energy Initiative funded by the UK’s Department for International Development, the project aims to increase sustainable energy access and resilience in refugee-affected areas, Rabab’ah told The Jordan Times, noting that the initiative is carried out in cooperation with NGO Habitat for Humanity. 

"Jordan has one of the lowest levels of water availability per capita in the world. It is no secret that our country faces big challenges to fulfill its growing energy and water demand, and these challenges have been exacerbated with the increasing numbers of Syrians who have taken refuge in Jordan,” the project coordinator explained.

In Jordan, 1.3 million Jordanians and Syrians are living in substandard housing, putting them at risk of numerous health and safety hazards, according to the Jordan Response Plan 2018.

According to the GBC, the Kingdom needs over 100,000 new housing units to provide for its soaring population. Rabab’ah emphasized the importance of new buildings being more efficient in their water and energy consumption, ultimately lowering the costs for their inhabitants.

"My house was always hot, no air conditioning or fans could help," recalled project beneficiary Om Bader, adding that "there was no ventilation or lighting at all”.

With the help of more than 100 volunteers from the local community, GBC and Habitat for Humanity, the Green Affordable Homes project helped build three new green and cost effective houses and retrofit 48 homes for better energy and water efficiency, helping families like Om Bader's access decent living conditions.

‘An affordable option’

"It is really important to show the public and donors that green and healthy homes don’t have to be complicated and expensive," Rabab'ah pointed out. 

“We are trying to challenge the misconception that green homes require high upfront costs and are out of reach for the financially challenged, meaning that affordable homes have to be built to poor quality.”

The project, which seeks to create green and affordable housing in low-income areas of the Kingdom, also aims to raise environmental awareness, lower building operating expenses, convince building owners to increase the efficiency of their properties and train local builders on the implementation of green building techniques and materials.

“At the Jordan GBC, we believe that improving building performance does not always mean that a building has to be high-tech. Sun and wind are free resources. So, passive techniques and simple design considerations with a marginal additional initial cost can make a huge difference,” Rabab’ah stated.

The project also trained 20 Jordanian and Syrian refugee builders in green building techniques and strategies, creating a long-lasting positive environmental impact for the community.

Human dignity

“…Our initiative is also about human rights and human dignity,” Rabab’ah noted, stressing that “a healthy green environment should be accessible and affordable to everyone.”

“People used to suffer a lot; windows were useless in summer and winter. But now, the newly fitted double glazed windows are very useful,” said community leader Firyal Al Masri.

“Positive changes were made. Homes went from being suffocating to being well lit and comfortable after retrofitting,” she continued, stressing “the houses feel totally different now.”

In 2014, the council held its first awareness session for local community-based organisations, where basic green building concepts were shared, and the issue of “going green” was discussed as a common social responsibility.

The first pilot for a green affordable home project was implemented a year later, through voluntary work from Jordan GBC and Habitat for Humanity. 

In 2016, an impact assessment showed that five other families from the area had adopted the approach, building their homes based on the green affordable home design and construction techniques provided in the pilot. 

“Through this project, people started to understand what a green building is. They know how to install solar water heaters, collect and reuse rain water and grey water [relatively clean waste water from baths, sinks and washing machines that can be reused],” said community leader Sanaa’ Qadahat, noting “all this will create energy savings and will guide citizens towards green building practices”.

Towards a sustainable future

“We were recently contacted by another homeowner who asked for green recommendations. This is truly a grassroots initiative from within the community, as it was sought out to be, using Jordan GBC only as enablers,” Rabab’ah commented.

The council is expecting to build five new green affordable homes and retrofit 40 existing homes through 2018, in addition to raising awareness in five local communities across Jordan.

“…Through our inclusive technical training for builders of different nationalities and backgrounds, we enhance social cohesion between refugees and host communities, which is one of our biggest successes,” Rabab’ah concluded, voicing her hope to see green affordable homes become “a widespread reality in Jordan and the wider region”.

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Monday approved the 2018 civil retirement draft law, following pledges made by Prime Minister Omar Razzaz to reconsider the law, especially items related to ministers' pensions.

Under the bill, ministers have the right to receive pensions if their service in ministries, public departments or municipalities amounts to at least seven years, while Cabinet members whose services are less than seven years can ask, after leaving office, for including their time in service to the Social Security Law, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The draft law stipulates that if a retiree is appointed as minister, their pensions and disability allowances have to be halted as of the date of their re-appointment. 

In this case, the pension shall be re-calculated after the end of the resumed service, including the time spent in the new job, providing that the re-calculated pension salary does not go below the previous one.

Anyone who assumes office for jobs in the first group of the top category, and those who are appointed with the rank or salary of a minister before this amending law goes into effect, has the right of pension when they leave office, whether they resign or are sent to retirement, provided that they have completed 10 years of public service.

The bill aims at regulating issues related to the retirement of members of the executive and judicial authorities, as stipulated in the Constitution, in a way that guarantees justice and equality and serves public interest, Petra reported.

Those who are subject to the new draft law include ministers, judges, and civil employees included under the civil service retirement system (as opposed to the  social security pension system) and employees appointed by contracts that entitle them to benefit from this system.

Those who are excluded from the bill comprise civil and military retirees who return to service after the draft law goes into effect, as well as judges and employees who are appointed after the bill goes into effect, as they will be subject to the Social Security Law.

Officials said the draft law is aimed at addressing all shortcomings ensuing from recurrent amendments to the Civil Retirement Law, alleviating financial burdens on the Treasury under the current difficult economic circumstances.

The bill stipulates that the monthly disability allowance (given to pensioners who prove they have had an injury or illness related to the nature of their job) shall not exceed, under any circumstances, 20 per cent of their last monthly salary with a JD500 cap. The existing law does not set this upper limit. 

The amendments take into consideration exceptional circumstances of women, as widowed or divorced women can now have the right to get married a second time without having their shares in the pension allowances of dead husbands or fathers affected. 

Meanwhile, the bill allows either man or wife to combine their pensions and a share of the dead spouse’s retirement salary.

AMMAN — The government announced on Tuesday its mechanisms of pricing fuel derivatives and indicated that it generated JD854 million in 2017, representing 13 per cent of last year's local revenues, from taxes and fees imposed on fuel derivatives.

The government generated JD350 million from taxes and fees on fuel derivatives during the first four months of 2018, but revenues are not expected to continue an up trend, as there is more reliance on hybrid and electric cars in Jordan, Minister of Finance Ezzeddine Kanakrieh said during a joint press conference with Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati.

"A large percentage of revenues from taxes and fees on fuel derivatives come from those taxes on unleaded gasoline 90 octane and unleaded gasoline 95 octane.” 

“But as the government is supporting environment-friendly and energy-saving vehicles such as hybrid and electric cars, the revenues will drop in future,” Kanakrieh said.

The minister added that all revenues generated from the taxes and fees are directed to the Treasury, while the government still subsidises home-cooking gas cylinders by JD45 million annually.

The minister said public debt has reached “alarming” levels. Jordan’s public debt was JD27.7 billion at the end of April, representing 96 per cent of the Kingdom’s gross domestic product.

Zawati said that to ensure justice, the tax imposed on 95-octane, unleaded gasoline was higher than that imposed on 90 octane unleaded gasoline, heavy fuel and kerosene, adding that consumers of the 95 octane unleaded gasoline are of higher income.

Pricing of fuel derivatives takes into account the global average prices and costs, including the cost of transportation, storage, evaporated fuel and other costs. Then, special taxes, sales tax and fees (which go to support the state budget and strategic reserves) are added to the price, she said.

The price of 90 octane unleaded gasoline in May was JD0.815 per litre. Of that, JD0.371 is the price of a litre arriving in Aqaba, and JD0.058 is added per litre as cost of storage and distribution, with JD0.386 added per litre in the form of taxes and other types of fees, she said.
The price of 95 octane unleaded gasoline in May was JD1.050 per litre. JD0.390 is the price of a litre arriving in Aqaba, and JD0.059 is added per litre as cost of storage and distribution, with JD0.601 added per litre in the form of taxes and other types of fees.

The taxes and fees imposed on a litre of 95 octane unleaded gasoline represent approximately 57.2 per cent of the overall price of a litre, while taxes and fees on a litre of 90 octane unleaded gasoline represent 47.4 per cent of the total price of a litre.

The price of diesel in May was JD0.615 per litre JD0.395 is the price of a litre arriving in Aqaba, and JD0.059 is added per litre as cost of storage and distribution, while JD0.161 is added in the form of taxes and other types of fees.

The price of Kerosene at the beginning of May was JD0.615 per litre, of which JD0.396 is the price of litre arriving in Aqaba, JD0.059 is added per litre as cost of storage and distribution and JD0.161 is added to the price of each litre in the form of taxes and other types of fees.

Taxes and fees imposed on a litre of diesel represent 26.2 per cent of its overall price, while taxes and fees imposed on a litre of kerosene represent 26 per cent of its total price.

“There are differences in the percentages of taxes and fees imposed on various types of fuel derivatives that take into account their usage to ensure solidarity and justice,” Zawati said. “The highest tax is on unleaded gasoline 95 octane.”

The cost of home-cooking gas cylinder is JD8.22, but it is sold at JD7 after government subsidies. 

The way the monthly prices of fuels are calculated has been a “mystery” as far as many opposition figures, ordinary people and experts, triggering a public call for transparency. 

Stressing the government’s commitment to transparency, Zawati said all revenues generated from taxes on fuel are used to finance items in the state budget, including current expenditure and projects.

AMMAN — The Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) on Tuesday offered donations worth JD25,000 to the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO) in support of the national aid campaign to alleviate the suffering of Syrians inside their country, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

President of the AAC Issa Murad said that the donations came in response to the national campaign launched by Prime Minister Omar Razzaz to raise in-kind and relief donations for Syrians on the other side of the border.

AMMAN — Iraqi Ambassador to Jordan Safia Al Suhail stressed that her country is keen to enable Jordanian exports to easily reach the Iraqi market, and that the slow implementation of the Iraqi Cabinet’s decision regarding the exemption of Jordanian goods from customs duties is due to the preoccupation of the Iraqi government in the recent period with parliamentary elections and continuing efforts to achieve security and stability.

She also noted that there is a delay from the Iraqi customs regarding the implementation of the decision for goods that pose a threat to national products, as Iraq is obliged, like Jordan, to protect its domestic products, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

She pointed out that a meeting will be held soon with a Jordanian delegation headed by the Minister of Transport Walid Masri to complete research on the issue of transport and to facilitate the transport of Jordanian exports to Iraq. 

AMMAN — Arab Women Organisation (AWO) in cooperation with the Forum of Canadian Federations on Tuesday launched the “Empowering women to play leadership roles” project in provincial, municipal and local councils and political parties.

The project aims to empower women to gain leadership roles by increasing their participation in local governance and influencing policies in collaboration with local officials and political parties, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The project, implemented by the AWO, targets 840 women elected to local councils, members of local associations and 160 members of political parties in the governorates of Karak, Tafila, Madaba and Balqa.

The project’s activities include 24 dialogue sessions and eight training workshops for two days on decentralisation, civic education, social communication skills and women’s leadership.

AMMAN — The National Centre for Security and Crisis Management (NCSCM) and the UNDP on Wednesday launched two projects on disaster risk reduction (DRR) and its further integration into the ongoing development programmes in Jordan, aiming to “advance DRR activities in the Kingdom through a more holistic and effective management that meets the national socioeconomic priorities”. 

Implemented with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the projects will contribute to the implementation of the new National DRR Strategy, which is currently being developed and integrated among all relevant national strategies. 

Asked about the current DRR context and challenges in Jordan, UNDP sources told The Jordan Times that “the occurrence of natural, biological and technological hazards is relatively low, but given the high population density in the cities and the overstretched capacity of social services and physical infrastructures, even a mild earthquake could have a serious impact”, pointing to rapid unplanned urbanisation, unsustainable water management practices and uncoordinated land use planning as the “main underlying risk drivers in Jordan”.

According to the UN agency, the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) system in the Kingdom can rely on “solid” country assets such as good access to social services, the high level of education of its population, and significant investment in response capacities, skills and equipment, considering that “over the past decade, both the central and local governments have gained a better understanding of disaster risks and have taken proactive steps to strengthen response systems and capacities”.

“There remains, however, limited awareness amongst policymakers and the general population, and investment in preparedness and prevention is limited within several fields with the exception of the public works and water sectors,” the sources continued, noting that in order to achieve the set objectives and goals of the Jordan National DRR Platform and the under-revision strategy for DRR, the NCSCM is working intensively to ensure adequate capacity and common understanding of the fundamentals of DRM and DRR for all stakeholders involved.

The projects were launched in a workshop hosted by NCSCM Deputy Director Adnan Abadi, who noted that the initiatives will contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the National Forum on DRR in Jordan. 

“We are constantly committed to providing all the necessary support in order to strengthen the resilience of societies to cope with crises,” UNDP Resident Representative Majida Al Assaf said during the launching ceremony, highlighting the programme’s mission to “ensure a secure and stable national environment”.

For his part, SDC representative Nayef Khoury stressed: “The importance of the cooperation with NCSCM and the creation of strategic partnerships between the relevant international organisations in the field of DRR”.