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AMMAN — Agricultural associations, unions and societies unanimously rejected the proposed new version of the income tax law, sector representatives said on Thursday, warning that the sector will take escalatory measures if the law in its proposed version is endorsed.

Sector leaders denounced taxing the agriculture sector under the new version of the law, which indicates that the farmers will have to pay taxes to the government whether they make profits or losses, highlighting that the new draft law did not identify limitations on losses or profits for the agriculture sector.

“This new law, which has also taxed production inputs, is opening the door wide open to importing all of our agricultural products from abroad, especially from the Zionist entity, given the unstable conditions in neighbouring countries,” Jordan Farmers Union (JFU) Director General Mahmoud Oran said.

Earlier this week, the JFU released a statement in which it expressed farmers' “strong objection to the new draft law which will terminate our food security”.

“How do you levy income tax on someone who has no income! How do you tax someone who is threatened of jail for being unable to pay his/her debts! And how do you tax unsold crops!” Oran commented.

Meanwhile, the Agricultural Engineers Association this week issued a statement in which it warned that the proposed amendments to the Income Tax Law will negatively affect the agriculture sector and create new crises on top of what the sector is already suffering, including lack of import portals due to the war in Syria and the instability in Iraq and the taxation of agricultural inputs.

“The society has called for a consultative meeting with leaders of the sector. During the meeting, the sector representatives said that the government continues to take unilateral decisions that affect agriculture in Jordan without discussing the matter with sector representatives,” a member of the syndicate who attended the meeting, told The Jordan Times.

The association is set to hold a press conference soon to talk about the implications of the new decision on the agricultural sector, the source said, indicating that a legal committee has been formed to stop the new amendments that affect the sector.

Last week, the Cabinet approved the mandating reasons for a draft law amending the Income Tax Law for 2018 and referred it to the Legislation and Opinion Bureau.

The government stressed that the draft law aims to realise “social justice and equality” and impose deterrent penalties on perpetrators of tax evasion.

It said that the law, which broadens the taxpayers’ base, is a corrective piece of legislation that would realise tax justice, fight evasion and apply the principle of vertical equity of tax payment.

But research on the draft income tax law, carried out by the Centre for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan and released earlier this week, said that the proposed new version of the Income Tax Law must be accompanied by reducing the sales tax.

The research detailed several recommendations and alternatives, including that the agriculture sector must remain exempted as is in the current law.

AMMAN — Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) was recently ranked 73rd in the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) Emerging Economies University Rankings 2018, a JUST statement said. 

The university gained 46 ranks compared to its previous year ranking of 119 out of 378 institutions from 42 countries classified as emerging economies. 

"JUST’s place in this ranking of the best research-led universities among the emerging economy nations is a significant achievement," the statement noted.

The THE Emerging Economies University ranking uses the same 13 performance indicators as the THE World University Rankings, examining each university’s strengths against all of its core missions which are teaching, research, citations, knowledge transfer, industry links, international outlook and the ability of matching the educational outcomes with all sectors.

Saeb Khreisat, JUST president, said that this achievement is "the result of cumulative efforts by the university's staff and associates", stressing: "It would not have been possible without the efforts of the members of the teaching and administrative bodies since JUST inception to improve the university through openness and communication with prestigious universities in international forums, in order to achieve its strategy and reach the status of world class university."

He called on all to exert more efforts to achieve the vision of His Majesty King Abdullah of a "leading and distinguished higher education".

Established in 2004, The Times ranking system is one of the world's best university classification systems and one of the most reliable tools for governments and universities to evaluate academic institutions, the statement concluded.

AMMAN — Seventy years after the Nakba, the Mideast conflict has transformed from Arab-Israeli to Palestinian-Israeli, experts said on Tuesday.

During a seminar organised by the World Affair Council, researchers and experts in the Middle East affairs reviewed the current situation and the history of the Palestinian cause, agreeing that Arab regimes’ stances towards the issue have witnessed a drawback over the years.

On Monday, dozens of protesters were killed and thousands injured by Israeli forces in Gaza and the West Bank, as they participated in marches to commemorate Nakba and express their rejection to the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

Nawaf Zarrou, a researcher in conflict affairs, said that Monday was the longest and the darkest day in the Arab nation’s history.

The opening of the embassy means a confirmation of the claims by the Zionist entity that Jerusalem is the city of their ancestors, said Zarrou, who spent 11 years in Israeli prisons, claiming "what is happening is an American-Jewish abduction of the holy city”.

He called Arab leaders, whom he said are now seeking to establish good relations with Israel, to review their stances towards the Palestinian cause, according to which the political solution has proved useless and ineffective.

Zarrou pointed that these stances have become contradictory to their position at the beginning of the conflict seven decades ago. 

"However, even during the course of the military action at the start of the conflict, Arabs failed in the face of the well prepared and armed forces of the enemy for many reasons," retired Lt. Gen Fadel Sarhan said. 

"While Arab forces were untrained and unarmed, some countries were under occupation or under mandate, with ill economies," he continued, adding "now Arab regimes’ stances towards the conflict have changed from rejection to approval; all No's have become Yes'es".

Ali Mahafthah, a professor and expert in the Palestinian cause, said that documentation of the conflict is "weak" and very few sources are written with a scientific research methodology. 

Out of 9,000 books in the University of Jordan’s library, only 250 books documented the war with Israel, he pointed out. 

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday sent a cable to King of Norway Harald V, congratulating him on the Constitution Day. In the cable, King Abdullah extended his best wishes to the people of Norway, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

AMMAN — Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, HRH Prince Feisal on Thursday attended a ceremony distributing awards to winners of the Hashemite competition for memorising the Holy Koran. Awqaf Minister Abdul Nasser Abul Bassal said that the ministry has always been keen on holding the competition in Ramadan, noting that 32 countries applied to participate in the 26th version of the competition, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

AMMAN — Iraqi Ambassador to Jordan Safia Al Suhail on Thursday said that there are 18,000 Iraqi students studying in the Kingdom in all educational levels, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The remark came during a ceremony organised by the Iraqi embassy to honour the Jordanian researcher Hanan Shamlawi, who won the Bahr Al Uloum award.

The ambassador added that some 100,000 Jordanians have studied in Iraq, stressing the "deep-rooted" ties between the two countries. For her part, Shamlawi expressed her appreciation for the embassy and Bahr Al Uloum Foundation, stressing that the award will be a motivation for her to continue scientific innovation. 

AMMAN — The northern governorates, where water demand increased by 40 per cent over the past seven years, are set to receive additional water to ease an expected surge in demand during the holy month of Ramadan and the hot season, government officials said on Thursday.

New water resources have entered the country’s network of fresh water resources, the officials said, indicating that the new water sources already started supplying the north with additional water.

“The northern governorates have started receiving a total of 1,200 cubic metres of water per hour from a combination of different sources. The additional amount seeks to address water shortage and an expected rise in demand in the north,” Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) Secretary General Iyad Dhayat said.

He underlined that WAJ, an affiliate of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, is targeting the north of the country ahead of summer and Ramadan, because the region suffers acute water scarcity due to the fact that it hosts the majority of the Syrian refugees in Jordan.

With over 1.4 million Syrian refugees living in the country, demand for water has increased, especially in the north, where the water per capita share has dropped by half since Syrian refugees began arriving in the country, according to the ministry.

As the water per capita share in the northern governorates of Jerash, Ajloun, Irbid and Mafraq has always been below the national average and has only exacerbated with the north hosting most of the Syrian refugees, the ministry last year announced a strategy to improve water supply in the north, according to ministry’s spokesperson Omar Salameh.

The 2016-2025 National Water Strategy indicates that the per capita share dropped from 147 cubic metres per year to 123 cubic metres per year since the start of the Syrian crisis.

“A total of 200 cubic metres of water per hour will be pumped from the National Water Carrier Project, with the amount set to increase in later stages,” Salameh highlighted.

The National Water Carrier Project is one of Jordan’s strategic water project that seeks to connect water projects in the south of the Kingdom to projects in the central and northern regions, in order to better supply water-distressed areas, especially in the north, via an extensive network of 6,00 kilometres of pipelines, according to the ministry.

Salameh highlighted that, in addition to the national carrier, the ministry is providing additional water to the north from different sources, including new and rehabilitated wells.

Water subscribers in the north welcomed the new announcement, indicating that their region is suffering from worsening situation in terms of availability of water.

Mohammad Roussan, a resident of Koura District in Irbid Governorate, said that the water situation in Irbid during summer is “hell”.

“We are supposed to receive water every 10 days or every two weeks if there are no problems with water supply. But, the fact is we do not receive water this often, we resort to buying our own water via tankers because we receive water sometimes once a month,” Roussan told The Jordan Times.

As he expressed hope for a better water supply this dry season, Roussan said he expects "no significant change" to the situation.

Amal Zahran, a resident of Souf in JerashGovernorat, echoed Roussan’s complaints.

“It is a very sad reality that we have gotten used to having very little water during intermittent periods. We are supposed to get water every two weeks, but weeks pass without a drop of water,” Zahran, a social worker at a development cooperative in Jerash, said, voicing hopes for an “easier summer this year”.

AMMAN — The Royal Tank Museum (RTM) on Friday is scheduled to hold a ceremony on the occasions of the International Museum Day and Independence Day. Families can access the free of charge ceremony until 6pm, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

RTM, which is located at the King Abdullah II Parks in Muqabalein, displays 110 Jordanian and international tanks and machinery, some of which participated in the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army battles. 

AMMAN — With the start of the holy month of Ramadan, Highway Patrol Department (HPD) launched an initiative entitled “Do not rush, we will serve your iftar” in a number of security stations, in order to allow drivers to break their fast while travelling and drive calmly and carefully, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Thursday.

The director of HPD Major General Ahmad Manasra said that the department will provide iftar meals to drivers during the time of iftar in security stations and allow them to take some rest and perform prayers and then proceed on their way.

Manasra pointed out that Jordan’s visitors will be served at Al Omari security station, near the Saudi-Jordanian border, in a Jordanian Bedouin tent, which was set up in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism, especially since the holy month of Ramadan coincides with the start of the touristic season and the summer vacation, and a large number of expatriates and tourists are expected to arrive in the Kingdom from the border crossing.

AMMAN — The government of Norway has contributed a grant of $5.8 million to UNICEF in support of vulnerable children’s access to education in Jordan, including Syrian refugee children, a UNICEF statement said.

“We are extremely grateful for the continued support of Norway to ensure children in Jordan get the education they need and deserve,” said UNICEF Jordan Representative Robert Jenkins.

The contribution from Norway, which is part of a regional contribution to Syria’s neighbouring countries, will continue improving children’s access to formal education in refugee camps and host communities, in addition to supporting the network of UNICEF Makani centres where children have access to learning opportunities, including learning support services.

Norway has contributed a total of $22.9 million to UNICEF since 2015, primarily for education programmes, including alternative education pathways and learning support services through the network of Makani centres targeting all vulnerable children in Jordan.