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AMMAN — Prime Minister Hani Mulki on Monday laid the cornerstone of Amman Chamber of Commerce's (ACC) exhibition and convention centre, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The centre, located near the Queen Alia Airport Highway, will be built on an area of 65,000sq.m through various implementation phases worth a total of JD35 million. 

Expected to be ready in two years, the centre will consist of exhibition halls spreading over 5,400sq.m, convention halls, a theatre with a capacity of 500 people, restaurants, parking lots, and a four-star hotel with 180 rooms, Petra reported.

Trade, Industry and Supply Minister Yarub Qudah commended the establishment of the centre, which will help Jordan and international industries to showcase their products, noting that it comes in line with efforts exerted to make Jordan "a main centre" for regional reconstruction.

Qudah praised the ACC's efforts which he said will not only benefit its members but also other national beneficiaries.

The project, which is the first of its kind in the Kingdom, will be a venue for holding domestic, regional and international expositions and conferences, ACC's Chairman Issa Murad said, highlighting that it will provide "hundreds" of job opportunities and attract large numbers of travelers and businesspeople to the Kingdom annually. 

Murad thanked the public institutions for their support and investment incentives in accordance with the law, stressing that the centre will be a national project that serves various sectors.

"The centre will boost Jordan as a destination for conventions and exhibitions which will also support the tourism sector," he said, adding that it will also contribute to improving the competitiveness of Jordan's products by helping them find new international markets.

AMMAN — The Fuheis Popular Committee on Monday issued a statement in protest to Minister of Municipal Affairs Walid Masri's directives related to the organisation of lands formerly used by a factory owned by French company Lafarge.

The cement factory, which operated in the area for 65 years, has stopped work in 2013 following demands by the residents of Fuheis, 20km west of Amman.

The committee said that the minister has given "unannounced" directives to Balqa Municipality's engineering department to commence sorting and zoning the land upon a request from Lafarge.

The measure affirms that the minister is keen on fulfilling the demands of the company rather than the demands of residents, the statement said.

The ministry's decisions have triggered condemnation and criticism of residents, Fuheis Municipality and the local community institutions, as the ministry and the company are attempting to impose their decisions without the approval of the local community.

"Lafarge has transformed from a cement factory into a real estate company with a miracle," said the statement.

Lafarge is attempting to trade with the lands of the factory, which were acquired for public purposes.

The committee stressed its support to Fuheis Municipal Council and demanded the cancellation of the ministry's measures. 

"Instead of supporting the people of Fuheis, the minister facilitates the task for Lafarge to sell 1,500 dunum that the French company has acquired without paying one dinar," according to the committee.

Last year, Members of Fuheis municipal council resigned, claiming that they are being pressured into approving Lafarge’s planned urban development project on the site of the Fuheis cement factory.

By Mussa Hattar

AMMAN — A group of musicians are causing a sensation in Jordan by reviving the golden age of Arab song — and not one of them is under the age of 50.

“I would give you anything for the feast, my angel.”

Beshara Rabadi, 62, sang the line to an enthusiastic crowd at a concert hall in central Amman.

Many instantly recognised the song of famous Iraqi singer, Nazem Al Ghazali, responding with applause and singing the rest of the phrase: “But you have everything. Should I give you bracelets? I don’t want to tie your hands.”

Beit Al Ruwwad (The House of Pioneers), founded in 2008, celebrates the golden era of Arab music represented by Ghazali and legendary Egyptian diva Umm Kulthum as well as Jordanian folklore songs.

The singers, some of them in their 80s, wear dark suits and, in some cases, sunglasses as they play a wide range of instruments: oud (Arabian lute), flute, drums and accordion.

Each Tuesday, they give a free concert at Amman’s Al Hussein Cultural Centre.

“Our goal is to preserve classical Jordanian and Arab music and provide a comfortable social space that supports original art and artists,” said the group’s founder and leader Sakher Hattar, 54.

A buzz spread throughout the audience as the group performed another well-known song about a girl leaving her family home to get married.

Women raised their hands while an older man span a cane above his head and tried out a few dance steps.

“I come every Tuesday, I never miss the concert,” said Russayla Bayzidi, 75, sitting in the front row in a white hijab and an elegant electric blue jacket.

“I love these old songs because they take me back to a beautiful time,” she said. “I relax so much when I come to these concerts.”

Born of rejection 

The group’s fans include people from across Jordanian society and the concerts always have a family atmosphere, said Hattar, who is also a oud teacher and head of the Arabic music department at Jordan’s National Music Conservatory.

He likes to talk of how the group was formed. He had met officials at the Culture Ministry to discuss having veteran musicians perform individually at the annual Jerash Festival, which brings artists from across the Arab world.

“They were rejected on the basis that they weren’t able to perform,” he said.

“That idea hurt, and it gave me the idea of setting up the band.”

He set about gathering a group of musicians in their later years, including singers Mohamed Wahib (84), Salwa Al Aas (74) and Fuad Hijazi (70).

“These artists still have a lot to give, they have a really high standard of musicianship,” he said.

In May, 10 years since the group was founded, his Majesty King Abdullah presented Hattar with an award for the band’s role in supporting pioneering musicians.

Singer Wahib said the group had “brought together pioneers who gave a lot to Jordanian and Arab art”.

“I’ve been passionate about music since my childhood,” he said, adding that he launched his career as a singer on Radio Ramallah in 1958.

The octogenarian, a contemporary of Arab greats such as Mohammad Abdelwahhab and Farid Al Atrash, credits Beit Al Ruwwad with giving him the desire to continue.

“The old songs are different from those of today, and people who come to see us feel that they are transported into the past.”

But the group also hopes to reach a younger audience, said sexagenarian singer Osama Jabbur.

“We try to create a link between old and new songs.”

AMMAN — Cases of illegal hunting, possession and trade of wild birds and animals dropped almost by half in 2017 compared to the previous year, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) said.

The number of cases of illegal hunting, possession and trade of wild birds and animals in 2017 stood at 155, compared with 280 cases in 2016, marking a 44.6 per cent drop in one year, according to RSCN's 2017 annual report, a copy of which was made available to The Jordan Times.

The RSCN showed in its annual report that it has increased the number of inspection tours from 1,704 in 2016 to 1,728 tours in 2017, with Mujib Biosphere Reserve, which is home to the once-extinct Nubian Ibex, witnessing a significant increase in the number of inspection patrols during the past year.

Turtles, water snakes, monkeys, coral reefs, foxes, a crocodile and a hyena were among the seized and confiscated animals in 2017, when the nature inspectors also seized and confiscated falcons, owls and 2,000 dead figbirds among other kinds of birds, according to the report.

Many of the seized and confiscated animals and birds are globally endangered and on the red list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, according to the RSCN.

The report, released during the RSCN's annual general assembly, also indicated that it issued more hunting licences in 2017 than in 2016, with a respective total of 3,220 and 2,763 licences. 

Established in 1966 as an independent non-profit organisation and mandated in 1973 by the government to regulate hunting and protect the Kingdom’s wildlife, the society issued a total of 2,874 hunting licences in 2015 and recorded 114 hunting violations at the same year.

AMMAN — The Council of Ministers decided in its meeting on Monday, chaired by Prime Minister Hani Mulki, to double the number of beneficiaries of the National Aid Fund programme to include 85,000 new families between 2019 and 2021 at a cost of JD100 million.

The number of families currently benefiting from the fund is 92,000, and the total number of beneficiaries will gradually reach 177,000 over three years, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. Meanwhile, the Cabinet also decided to reduce the special tax imposed on the use of natural gas from 16 to 7 per cent.

The decision is aimed at supporting the industrial sector and reducing production costs, as well as encouraging industries to switch to natural gas for its energy needs.

The Cabinet also discussed the efforts exerted to strengthen and activate the decentralisation process, stressing in this regard the need for all ministries to expedite the delegation of the remaining authoritative powers to the heads of governorate councils.

AMMAN — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Freihat on Monday visited a number of Border Guard units in the northern military zone, where Freihat was welcomed by Brig. Gen. Khalid Masaeed and a number of senior officers of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army.

Freihat was briefed by unit leaders on the tasks, duties and training programmes carried out by the Border Guard units and their implementation mechanism in the protection and control of the border, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

AMMAN- A group of musicians are causing a sensation in Jordan by reviving the golden age of Arab song -- and not one of them is under the age of 50.

"I would give you anything for the feast, my angel."

Beshara Rabadi, 62, sang the line to a enthusiastic crowd at a concert hall in central Amman.

Many instantly recognised the song of famous Iraqi singer, Nazem al-Ghazali, responding with applause and singing the rest of the phrase:

"But you have everything. Should I give you bracelets? I don't want to tie your hands."

Beit al-Ruwwad (The House of Pioneers), founded in 2008, celebrates the golden era of Arab music represented by Ghazali and legendary Egyptian diva Umm Kulthum as well as Jordanian folklore songs.

The singers, some of them in their 80s, wear dark suits and in some cases sunglasses as they play a wide range of instruments: oud (Arabian lute), flute, drums and accordion.

Each Tuesday, they give a free concert at Amman's Al Hussein Cultural Center.

"Our goal is to preserve classical Jordanian and Arab music and provide a comfortable social space that supports original art and artists," said the group's founder and leader Sakher Hattar, 54.

A buzz spread throughout the audience as the group performed another well-known song about a girl leaving her family home to get married.

Women raised their hands while an older man span a cane above his head and tried out a few dance steps.

"I come every Tuesday, I never miss the concert," said Russayla Bayzidi, 75, sitting in the front row in a white hijab and an elegant electric blue jacket.

"I love these old songs because they take me back to a beautiful time," she said. "I relax so much when I come to these concerts."

Born of rejection

The group's fans include people from across Jordanian society and the concerts always have a family atmosphere, said Hattar, who is also an oud teacher and head of the Arabic music department at Jordan's National Music Conservatory.

He likes to talk of how the group was formed.

He had met officials at the culture ministry to discuss having veteran musicians perform individually at the annual Jerash Festival, which brings artists from across the Arab world.

"They were rejected on the basis that they weren't able to perform," he said.

"That idea hurt, and it gave me the idea of setting up the band."

He set about gathering a group of musicians in their later years, including singers Mohamed Wahib (84), Salwa al-Aas (74) and Fuad Hijazi (70).

"These artists still have a lot to give, they have a really high standard of musicianship," he said.

In May, 10 years since the group was founded, King Abdullah presented Hattar with an award for the band's role in supporting pioneering musicians.

Singer Wahib said the group had "brought together pioneers who gave a lot to Jordanian and Arab art".

"I've been passionate about music since my childhood," he said, adding that he launched his career as a singer on Radio Ramallah in 1958.

The octogenarian, a contemporary of Arab greats such as Mohammad Abdelwahhab and Farid al-Atrash, credits Beit al-Ruwwad with giving him the desire to continue.

"The old songs are different from those of today, and people who come to see us feel that they are transported into the past."

But the group also hopes to reach a younger audience, said sexagenarian singer Osama Jabbur.

"We try to create a link between old and new songs."

 

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Sunday hosted an Iftar banquet for Jordanian youth, where she expressed her gratitude for their efforts in service of Jordan, a statement from Her Majesty's Office said.

Held at Basman Palace, the banquet was attended by youth representatives who are active in the fields of entrepreneurship, media, culture, education, technology, social work and volunteering, according to the statement.

AMMAN — Jordanian sisters and businesswomen Tamara and Reem Al Baghdadi say they believe that women must be empowered in order to break the glass ceiling and achieve their goals in their country, “and we believe in the power of individual impact to make a change”.

The sisters have been selected as the winners of the Girls Going Global Inspire Scholarship to the International Business Accelerator (IBA), which provides “a pathway into fast-growing international markets for resilient working women across the world”. 

Women from Australia, the US, China and Palestine compete for the accolade, aiming to seize the 12-month scholarship worth A$13,800 at the IBA and fast-track their international success, according to a statement by the organisers. 

“We launched the Girls Going Global competition on International Women’s Day earlier this year to encourage and support more women to expand their businesses internationally. We did this because we know that there are a lot of women entrepreneurs around the world who want to make a bigger global impact and expand their business internationally, but face challenges in doing so when it comes to access to finance, family commitments and building a support network to guide them,” IBA founder Cynthia Dearin said in a press release.

The Baghdadi sisters are the co-founders of RimaraPak, a packaging and plastic factory established in Amman in 2005 and focused on the development of food-graded, recyclable and hygienic products. 

“We built RimaraPak from the ground up with timely investments of our own successes back into expansions whether through machinery lines, product diversification or strategy enhancements,” Reem told The Jordan Times, recalling how they adapted their own philosophy into their business model “by focusing on employing local women, along with engaging with numerous local organisations aimed at women’s economic empowerment”.

“We have always strived to create a larger global impact through the expansion of our business,” Reem continued, explaining how “with persistence in pursuing our vision, we approached international professional organisations, such as Girls Going Global, to benefit from their experience and the support of their global minded entrepreneurs”. 

“When Tamara and Reem applied for the Girls Going Global competition, their goal was to expand their business into international markets through exports,” Dearin recounted, noting that “they knew that Jordan had signed numerous international trade agreements to facilitate greater exports, and they could see the opportunity for RimaraPak to expand their reach throughout the Arab region and beyond”. 

“We were inspired by Tamara and Reem’s story of how they achieved success in a typically male-dominated industry, in a region of the world where serious political and economic challenges make it all the more difficult to succeed in business,” Dearin remarked, elaborating on how the judges were “impressed by the sisters’ vision and determination to expand RimaraPak internationally, by the work they are already doing to support Jordanian women and by their desire to do more on both fronts”.

“It’s definitely not easy for a woman to break grounds in the male-dominated business industry,” Reem stressed, adding that “as women, we must overcome difficulties such as access to finance, adherence to family commitments and the lack of a guiding support network”.

Reem’s words echo the findings of a study released earlier this year by the Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation, which called for an increase in the support of the business culture among Jordanian women.

The lack of guarantees in the access to financial resources was the reason for most of the surveyed women not to start a business, according to the study, while 42 per cent reported fear of failure as the main reason preventing them from pursuing business.

The absence of functional incentives, such as maternity leave, healthcare, retirement and job security, were also among the most influential factors affecting the overall entrepreneurial activity in Jordan, according to the report. 

“We must stop blaming the cultural and traditional beliefs for the lack of female engagement in employment in general,” member of local NGO SADAQA Sahar Aloul recently told The Jordan Times, stressing that “there are many other factors preventing women from becoming both employees and entrepreneurs, and we should recognise them and work hand in hand with the government to overcome them and create better working environments”.

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Sunday charged five men with premeditated murder in connection with the alleged stabbing death of a man in Amman over old family feuds during the weekend, a judicial source said.

The 42-year-old victim was leaving a mosque in Baqaa refugee camp at around 11:00pm when five men reportedly attacked him, the judicial source told The Jordan Times.

The five suspects, aged between 17 and 22 years, then fled the scene and were later arrested by the authorities, the source added.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Jawaher Jbour, the first female investigator to assume such functions, rushed to the scene to investigate the murder, according to the judicial source.

“Jbour examined the murder scene and later supervised the autopsy of the victim, which revealed that the victim had received seven stab wounds on different parts of his body,” the judicial source said.

In their initial testimony to Jbour and other law enforcement agencies, the suspects, four of whom are close relatives of the victim, stated that they had had “constant family feuds with the victim over the past years”, a second source told The Jordan Times.

The tension between the family members escalated, “and the defendants decided to murder the victim”, according to the second source. 

The suspects reportedly “monitored the victium for a while and waited for him after the end of the prayer when they attacked and killed him”, according to the second source.

Jbour ordered that four of the five suspects be detained at a correctional rehabilitation centre for 15 days pending further investigation, the source said, noting that the fifth suspect was sent to a juvenile correctional and rehabilitation centre.