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AMMAN — The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has awarded Jordan the excellence certificate in aviation safety, Chief Commissioner of the Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission (CARC) Captain Haitham Misto announced on Sunday.

Misto said that ICAO sent an official letter to CARC, announcing the selection of Jordan for the ICAO President's Certificate of Excellence in Air Safety in recognition of the effective implementation of ICAO standards and recommended practices, and the significant improvement in air safety performance levels, monitored by ICAO in 2017.

He added that this certificate is granted to countries that make significant progress in air safety control, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

This certificate is governed by standards based on transparency, impartiality and results of the ICAO programme for civil aviation oversight safety, he pointed out. The ICAO president invited Misto to visit the organisation headquarters in Montreal to receive the certificate at a ceremony to be held for this purpose, he announced.

AMMAN — The government on Sunday condemned the terrorist attack that targeted a voter registration centre in Kabul and resulted in the death of at least 48 civilians and 112 injuries. Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani expressed the government’s rejection of such terrorist acts that target innocent civilians, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Momani, who is also the government spokesperson, conveyed the government’s condolences to the victims’ families and wished the injured a speedy recovery. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack, whose victims included 21 women and five children, Petra added. 

AMMAN — HH Prince Mired, president of the Higher Council for the Affairs of Persons with Disabilities (HCD), on Sunday met with a delegation from Lumos, an international non-governmental organisation working for the protection and support of disabled children worldwide, headed by Georgette Mulheir, the organisation’s CEO.

The visit comes as part of the organisation’s mutual activities with the HCD and the Ministry of Social Development to launch alternative services for the traditional accommodation care extended to the disabled children and adults alike, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The joint cooperation aims to enhance independent living initiatives for disabled people in Jordan and boost their access to medical services, education and social welfare. 

AMMAN — The Jordanian-Egyptian joint technical committee for the land transport on Sunday, in a meeting in Taba, agreed to continue the validity of a mechanism allowing trucks and refrigerated trucks entry to both countries until the end of 2018.

The mechanism allows trucks, whether empty or loaded, to enter the other country and exit through the Aqaba- Nuweiba route by paying $600 as a registration fee until June 30, and $100 for those unsubscribed for each trip for empty trucks until June 30, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Transport Ministry Secretary General Anmar Khasawneh highlighted the importance of holding periodic meetings to address challenges facing the land transport of passengers and goods between the two countries. 

AMMAN — The Goodwill Campaign and the Jordanian Engineers Association (JEA) on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the "Safe House" project, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Under the MoU, a number of houses of underprivileged families will be renovated across the Kingdom, with an allocation of JD5,000 for each house.

The one-year agreement was signed by Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD) Deputy Executive Director Mohammad Hiari and JEA President Majed Tabba in the presence of HRH Princess Basma, president of the Goodwill Campaign’s higher committee. 

The princess highlighted the importance of the partnership with the JEA, stressing keenness on increasing efforts to maximise benefits for underprivileged families and the community. 

She praised the JEA for its charity and social work, the services it provides to its members and its achievements in several fields.

Tabba said that the professional association is the "first civil society institution" to implement a system of social responsibility at the national level. He highlighted the strategic partnership between the syndicate and the Goodwill Campaign which targets humanitarian and charitable work.

Established in 1977, JOHUD is the oldest and largest non-profit, non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting rights-based, sustainable human development in Jordan.

AMMAN — For Jordanian artist Suheil Baqaeen, delivering training at Haya Cultural Centre (HCC) for World Art Day was not only a way to share his knowledge with children but also a tool for him to get artistically inspired.

The artist delivered a unique training centred around inspiration through the smell of colours. “I made children close their eyes and smell the colour to open their imagination," he told The Jordan Times on Saturday, stressing "artists never stop learning throughout their career, so I taught and learned at the same time.”

Baqaeen was among 10 distinguished artists who took part in a two-day event dubbed “Mosaic”, which aimed to create a bridge between artists and children in Jordan, according to Diala Khamra, manager at HCC, which organised the event. 

“Mosaic comes to celebrate the art of local artists and offer children the opportunity to meet them and learn their techniques through specialised art workshops. We welcome young artists and their families to this celebration, and we look forward to transforming HCC into a big art studio that brings contemporary and future artists together,” Khamra said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

Baqaeen said art is significant for children in Jordan amidst the lack of artistic evens at schools. “We made the children focus on the greatness of colours, inspiring them to focus on imagination and creativity,” he said.

Different kinds of art such as portrait sculpture, photography, one-line drawing, abstract art, graffiti and Islamic arts were presented during the workshops, which saw the participation of artists Lojain Nahhas, Natasha Ma’ani, Linda Al Khoury, Hanan Khalil, Yazan Setabouha, Ghassan Abulaban, Shahad Dawood, Fadi Haddadin and Mike V. Derderian.

The not-for-profit organisation Traditional Islamic Book Arts has also presented activities covering a wide range of Islamic arts and styles, according to an HCC statement. 

On the sidelines of the celebration, the centre is also hosting the theatre performance “Dal Vivo” from France.

Linda Khoury, who was among the participating artists, said it is important to encourage children appreciate art rather than forcing it on them.

“It is not necessary to enroll them in art classes but it is important to have them appreciate art at an early age by making them visit art galleries and take part in such activities,” she added.

AMMAN — The Ministry of Water and Irrigation will implement a project to desalinate water in Wadi Husban, with an annual capacity of 20 million cubic metres (mcm) to serve the capital and tourist investments in the Dead Sea area, as part of the government’s economic stimulation plans,  Minister of Water and Irrigation Ali Ghezawi said on Saturday.

During a tour to Wadi Al Seer and Naur purification stations, Ghezawi said that Prime Minister Hani Mulki called for speeding up procedures to implement water desalination projects so as to provide new and sustainable water resources for all purposes, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The minister also checked on sanitation projects being implemented in Wadi Al Seer, including a scheme to increase the daily capacity of Wadi Al Seer’s purification station to 17,000 cubic metres, and the 6-kilometre carrier to connect several Wadi Al Seer areas with the sewage network.

AMMAN — Eight people, including  Deputy Mohammad Amamreh and six of his family members, were killed in a road accident on the Desert Highway on Saturday evening, official sources said.

 Deputy Amamreh’s (South Badia) vehicle collided with a winch truck, with the “strong impact” causing the immediate death of the MP, his wife and their five children, according to a Civil Defence Department  (CDD) report.

A passenger in the winch truck died shortly after being admitted to hospital and a second was listed in critical condition, the CDD said.

A senior traffic official told The Jordan Times that the cause of the accident was still being investigated.

“We have formed a committee to investigate the cause of this unfortunate accident and we will inform the public once we reach a conclusion,” the senior traffic officials said.

 Facebook users said that those who died in the accident also included Amamreh’s driver. It was not possible to verify these statements by press time on Saturday.

Karak Deputy Mesleh Tarawneh expressed grief on his Facebook page over the passing of Amamreh, saying, “Amamreh was another victim of the Desert Highway”.

Tarawneh has often been criticising the government over the deteriorating condition of the Desert Highway, which he and other people have described as “road of death”.

Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh expressed condolences over the passing of Amamreh, according to Petra. 

He also decided to postpone the House’s two sessions which were scheduled for Sunday. According to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, the decision comes to allow House members to offer condolences to Amamreh’s family.

AMMAN — Royal Court Secretary General Yousef Issawi, head of the follow-up committee for the implementation of Royal initiatives, on Saturday checked on various Royal initiative projects in Karak.

Accompanied by Housing Minister Sami Halasa, Issawi had a firsthand look at the work progress in a housing project, which includes five houses for underprivileged families in Jadaa at the Qaser District, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Issawi listened to the demands of Mansourah residents, which included a multipurpose hall, a school, and rehabilitating and lighting for the area’s streets.

Issawi and Halasa also visited the Youbeel Forest, where Karak agriculture director Mazen Dmour highlighted the importance of the venue as a tourist destination for area residents, noting that the road to the forest needs rehabilitation and service facilities. 

AMMAN — The Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) on Saturday announced the arrest of five suspects in several drug-bust operations over the past few weeks in various parts of the Kingdom, official sources said.

The five men, including some Arab nationals, were arrested before being able to smuggle the illicit drugs, mostly pills, to neighbouring countries, a senior AND official told The Jordan Times.

“No law enforcement agents were injured in the operations that were precise and clean since we received several tip-offs about the smuggling operations and were fully prepared," the AND official said.

In one incident, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said, two individuals were arrested in two separate incidents where they were attempting to smuggle “a total of 425,000 captagon pills to a neighbouring country in their vehicles”.

“Both men were arrested after AND agents received information about their intent. Upon searching their vehicles, the illegal narcotics were found hidden in secret compartments,” Sartawi explained.

In another incident, “AND agents received information that a man was attempting to smuggle illegal narcotics via mail package," the police official added, noting that the “agents were waiting for the suspect as he was attempting to receive the package and arrested him".

The package reportedly contained 6 kilos of synthetic cannabis (locally known as joker), according to Sartawi.

Two suspects were also arrested in Amman and Aqaba after AND agents received tips that they were hiding illegal weapons and drugs at their homes, Sartawi said.

“The search of their properties yielded 390,000 illegal captagon pills and several unlicensed weapons,” Sartawi added.

Captagon (fenethylline) is a synthetic stimulant similar to amphetamine. The pills are usually manufactured and transported from neighbouring countries in the north via Jordan to rich countries on the southern borders, according to officials.

All suspects were referred to the State Security Court prosecutor for further questioning and indictment, the official noted.