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AMMAN —  Authorities on Monday announced uncovering a major water theft case, under which some 48,000 cubic metres of freshwater were being diverted monthly for the irrigation of over 100 dunums of lands in Lubban, according to a government official.

The Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the Jordan Water Company (Miyahuna) and security forces from the Public Security Department, the Gendarmerie and the Royal Badia Forces raided early this week the location after verifying reports on a major violation on a water main that supplies area residents, an official at the ministry said.

In a farm in Lubban, located 30 kilometres south of Amman in Al Jizah District, authorities uncovered a 100-metre long illegal pipeline that was diverting municipal water from a main carrier to the vast plantation, the official said, noting that the stolen water was being channeled into five huge ponds, which were already filled with thousands of cubic metres of water.

"The fresh precious water that is supposed to reach people for drinking and domestic usage was being illegally diverted for the irrigation of all kinds of field cultivations and crops in 13 greenhouses," the official, who requested anonymity, told The Jordan Times.

Authorities removed the violation and are in the process of estimating the cost of the stolen water, according to the official, who noted that investigation is under way to identify owner of the farm and those involved in the violation to refer them to court.

"More than 1,600 cubic metres of water were being diverted daily to the farm from the main carrier. This is a huge violation involving the deprivation of thousands of people of their right to constant supply of water," the official said, noting that the daily water per capita share in Jordan ranges between 80-100 litres depending on the location.

Stiffer penalties for infractions against the water system have been introduced under the amended Water Authority of Jordan Law.

Those who abuse water carriers and mains, wastewater, pumping, purification or desalination stations, cause the pollution of water resources, pipes or stations used for drinking water, dig or are involved in the digging of wells without obtaining a licence face a prison sentence of up to five years and fines of up to JD7,000.

In addition, violators of water and wastewater projects can be jailed for up to three years and fined up to JD5,000 under the amendments.

All penalties stipulated under the law are doubled in the case of repeat offences.

Also earlier this week, the ministry's teams sealed an illegal well in a farm in Mafraq, some 68 kilometres north Amman, under its ongoing campaign to end all violations on water networks and resources, according to the official.

In the process, authorities seized and confiscated a “sophisticated” drilling rig for digging deep wells, the official said, noting that the illegal well was sealed and the ministry is estimating the cost of water pumped out of the well.

The ministry banned the drilling of wells in 1998 to limit random pumping of water, in order to preserve aquifers from depletion and salinity.

Water theft and violations on the water network and resources are being targeted by the ministry's ongoing campaign, launched in 2013.

Recent ministry figures show that 32,000 violations on water networks and resources have been stopped since the campaign started. In addition, a total of 900 illegal wells have been sealed, 53 drilling rigs confiscated and 800 cases referred to courts.

In the process, a total of 25 million cubic metres of water have been retrieved per year, according to the ministry, which encouraged the public to contact the ministry’s unified water emergency number on 117116 to report any suspected violations against the water network and resources.

AMMAN — Established in 1968 in Amman with the goal  to "promote study, teaching, and increased knowledge of ancient and Middle Eastern studies with Jordan as a focus", American Centre of Oriental Research (ACOR) is celebrating its golden jubilee. 

ACOR’s 50th anniversary is a "major milestone" in its history that should be celebrated and used as a chance to reflect on the past, present and future, said ACOR's Director Barbara Porter.

"ACOR staff members are working hard towards two major goals for the future, one which will allow us to provide meaningful programmes in cultural resources management for diverse stakeholders, and the second one which will allow us to prepare the physical space of the centre for 21st century needs," she noted. 

ACOR’s permanent headquarters opened in July 1986 thanks to the efforts of the Committee for ACOR under the patronage of HRH Prince and the Chairmanship of HRH Prince Raad, according to Porter. 

"Along with them, many people helped in this momentous achievement and our 30-year old building has stood the test of time and adapted well to change, " she said.

Prince Raad has served ever since as ACOR’s first vice president of the Board of Trustees and only now in our 50th year has he retired from this role and become trustee emeritus, the director added.

"His interest and concern for ACOR over the decades have supported our endeavours to provide a place where Jordanians and foreign scholars can meet and exchange ideas," Porter said.

Carmen (Humi) Al Ayoubi, the director of the ACOR Library, began working with the centre in 1988 and has been instrumental in helping develop the library into a very important tool for scholarly research.

For her, the most important thing is the positive feedback of scholars, students and general public who use the facility.

"The best thing about working at ACOR is the interesting people who are always passing through the building and perhaps staying at the ACOR Hostel," said Assistant Director Sarah Harpending who joined the team in 2008, adding that her favourite thing is "when Jordanian students who received ACOR fellowships return to the centre to give a copy of their university master's thesis to the library". 

Although cultural heritage is still a "core part" of ACOR there is increasingly a focus in supporting researchers and fellows in modern area studies, including history and political sciences, Associate Director Jack Green said.

Green underlined the importance of the centre as "a good mixture of Jordanian, American, and people from other countries who work, research, visit and share ideas within its communal spaces", while also highlighting the ACOR's collaborations with University of Jordan and the Department of Antiquities (DoA). 

For Miriam Saleh, ACOR’s development officer: "Each project we take on is focused on giving interested people the tools they need to learn more, to deepen knowledge of Jordan." 

This year "will be very dynamic as ACOR plans to increase the outreach to the Jordanian community", Saleh said. 

According to Green, the focus right now is to continue what the centre has always been doing – supporting the visiting fellows and researchers, presenting lectures and facilitating research and programmes.

"Strategic planning is a key part of that, and so is the research; a few new research related initiatives that have been growing since last year include our archives projects," he said.

"We have put a lot of photographic images online on our STARCHIVE database. This is creating a new research resource that can widen our reach and role more globally," Green concluded.  

AMMAN — The Jordan Labour Watch on Saturday issued a statement calling for the amendment of several articles in the Labour Law, which is set to be discussed this week by the Lower House Labour Committee.

The Ministry of Labour was not able to comment on the organisation’s recommendations, despite several attempts by The Jordan Times. 

“The Labour Law shall be amended in order to enable workers to enjoy their economic and social rights, as well as to guarantee the stability and the sustainable growth of the Jordanian economy,” the statement said, noting the need to “bring the law closer to the international labour standards, the provisions and spirit of the Jordanian Constitution, and the Comprehensive National Plan for Human Rights”.

Regarding the minimum wage, the organisation recommended the amendment of Article 52 to make it compulsory to raise the minimum salary in an annual basis according to the inflation indicators issued by the National Department of Statistics. 

“The tripartite committee formed according to the current Labour Law has the authority to review the minimum wage and submit their proposals to the Council of Ministers even if they differ among themselves,” Director of the Jordan Labour Watch Ahmad Awad told The Jordan Times, stressing that “the minimum wage is currently set to JD220 — which is very low when compared to the high prices of the basic goods”.

Concerning the compensation for arbitrary dismissal, the Jordan Labour Watch suggested that the financial compensation shall cover one month per each of the years in which the worker has been employed by the company, in addition to a minimum wage of four months and other benefits stipulated on articles 32 and 33 of the Labour Law. 

The organisation also recommended the amendment of Article 31 on the restructuring procedures of business establishments, stressing that the Ministry of Labour shall approve any action aimed at the dismissal of employees before its execution. 

In regard to the constitution of trade unions, the statement called for modifications in Article 98 aimed at the abolition of the powers of the Lower House Labour, Social Development and Population committees to determine the professions and sectors in which the unions are to be established, stressing that “the article’s text violates the freedom of association”.

“This is one of our most important recommendations,” Awad highlighted, stressing that “the current law contradicts the international labour standards contained in the Human Rights Bill and the relevant international conventions”.

“The Jordanian Constitution explicitly recognises the right of workers to  form trade unions and it does not tolerate any restrictions in its exercise as long as the objectives of the unions are legitimate and peaceful,” the statement noted. 

Regarding the provision of daycare for the children of female employees, the organisation stressed its agreement with the model developed by the NGO SADAQA, which builds on the provisions of Article 72 of the Labour Law to require companies with over 20 female employees to provide daycare for their children. 

On November 2017, the Ministry of Labour renewed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SADAQA  aimed at implementing the National Framework for Workplace Daycares, developed during a session organised by the NGO and the International Labour Organisation. 

In a recent interview, SADAQA co-founder Randa Naffa told The Jordan Times that the framework “facilitates and expedites the licensing process of daycares through a one-stop-shop registration window, and it offers more than one model of workplace daycares, as well as incentives and support for employers who abide by the law”.

“The MoU is an important step forward in ensuring that workplace daycares become a public a good, both accessible and affordable to offer services to working families at large across Jordan,” the co-founder concluded.

AMMAN — The National Hajj Company is totally legal and accountable, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Wael Arabiyat said on Sunday.

"Anybody who has an objection can resort to the judiciary," he added. 

Jordanian travel agencies have been protesting against the establishment of a travel company by the Hajj Fund affiliated with the Awqaf Ministry.

The travel agencies staged a sit-in near the Hajj Fund on Sunday demanding the cancellation of the company, which they described as "illegal", according to Al Rai Arabic daily.

Regarding the reasons behind the protest, the Jordan Society of Tourism and Travel Agents (JSTA) said that private travel agencies, which employ “hundreds” of Jordanians, will not be able to compete with a government-owned company that has a much larger capital collected by the fund from pilgrims.

As the company is owned by the ministry, which is an executive and monitoring authority, there will be no avenue for clients to complain about services, JSTA President Mohammad Samih, told The Jordan Times recently.

The company is an independent entity, financially and administratively, Arabyiat told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

"If any pilgrim files a complaint against the company, it will be held accountable and dealt with as other companies," he stressed. 

The protesters have already submitted a complaint to the Competition Department at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply. 

"The department responded to them by disapproving the claim, saying that establishing the company does not breach the Competition Law," said Arabiyat.

The company will create "balance" in the market in terms of prices and service quality, stressed the minister, adding that it will even "help" other companies in bookings and ensuring that their clients receive the services in Saudi Arabia according to the service.

"We have witnessed 'collusion' of some companies to collectively raise the prices of Hajj trips, which reached JD2,600, and they are refusing to lower them," said Arabiyat, adding that "protecting Jordanians from such hikes and monopolies necessitates the establishment of national company to maintain balance in the market".

"They change or raise the prices without even providing clear mechanism," he added.

During a protest held last month in front of Parliament, protesters listed a number of demands, including the cancellation of the company, having the association as the only organiser of Hajj and umrah trips in cooperation with the Awqaf and the Tourism ministries, forming a committee from the association and the relevant ministries to monitor trips' prices.

The demands also included urging the Awqaf Ministry to contact the Saudi Arabian authorities to exempt Jordanians from the 2,000-riyal umrah fees.
The association also demanded the cancellation of the pre-payment for Hajj registration worth JD200.
JSTA demanded a meeting with Prime Minister Hani Mulki to explain the sector's challenges, JSTA Secretary Kamal Abu Diab told The Jordan Times at the time.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah has received from Prime Minister Hani Mulki a report that highlights the government’s achievements in 2017, a Royal Court statement announced on Sunday.

The report included eight main aspects that covered progress in economic reform, human resources development, employment and labour, administrative reform, public sector development and addressing corruption, political reform, judiciary development, social safety and development and public services sector.

In the report, the government said that it managed to decrease the budget deficit in 2017 to 15 per cent, compared to 2016, and achieved a 4.4 per cent increase in public debt, which, the report said, is the lowest in a decade.

Meanwhile, the government marked a 7.7 per cent increase in domestic revenues and improved financial self-reliance ratio — local revenues’ coverage of current expenditure — amounted to 95 per cent in 2017, compared with 90 per cent in 2016.

Modest GDP growth with some bright spots

The government described the economic performance as “modest”, where real GDP grew by 2 per cent during the first three quarters of 2017.

On the other hand, the report said that some sectors showed improvement, including the tourism income that increased by 12.5 per cent in 2017, and the foreign direct investment that grew by 19.1 per cent during the first three quarters of 2017.

The national exports increased by 1.5 per cent, while imports increased by 5.4 per cent; the trade deficit increased by 9.7 per cent during the first 11 months of 2017.

Energy and water security 

To enhance energy security, the government underlined the construction of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) storage facilities in Aqaba, with a total capacity of 6,000 tonnes, in addition to oil derivative capacities of 250,000-300,000 tonnes, and 8,000 tonnes available to store LPG in central Jordan. 

In addition, there is also a 100,000-tonne storage capacity for crude oil and derivatives in Aqaba. (The Government expects these projects to be completed by mid-2018.)

As for renewable energy, solar and wind power projects have been developed generating a total of 1,600 megawatts. These projects were funded through attracting private sector investments exceeding $2 billion. 

As for water security, the prequalification tender for the Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project was tendered, and the government built eight large dams, eight desert dams for water harvesting, in addition to drilling 26 wells in different regions of the Kingdom.

Human resources and education

As for the National Strategy for Human Resource Development (HRD) at the educational level, a total of 28 new kindergartens, containing 68 rooms were established, and 230 kindergartens were furnished and equipped last year, in addition to renovating and restoring 60 classrooms.

Also, 50 new schools were built and 37 other schools were expanded, bringing the total classroom capacity to 222 rooms. Additionally, 26 schools with fewer than 20-30 students were merged.

Moreover, a pre-service teacher training programme was initiated in coordination with the Queen Rania Teacher Academy, where 501 teachers were qualified to attend the training programme, and a total of 52,758 teachers were trained within the pre-service professional development programmes.

Regarding vocational school education, specialties in this field were reduced from 25 to 10, in addition to signing an agreement with the Vocational Training Corporation to train 2,000 students. 

The government noted the launch of the National Programmeme for Empowerment and Employment in early 2017 to empower and employ Jordanians in several key sectors (industry, tourism, agriculture, construction, services [nurseries], and fuel stations). A total of JD100 million has been allocated to provide incentives to trainers. 

Judicial, public sector reforms 

Pertaining to the development of the judiciary system (recommendations put forward by the Royal Committee for Developing the Judiciary and Enhancing the Rule of Law), 12 draft laws and 10 bylaws were put forward, in order to contribute to the modernisation and development of the judicial system and enhancement of its role in upholding the rule of law. 

As for the public sector reform, an amended civil service bylaw was introduced, which included a number of amendments, such as the introduction of the flexible working hours system for public sector employees; the activation of the principle of reward and punishment in public services; and the development of employee performance evaluation mechanisms.

Regarding the development of government services through the e-government and digital economy, the procedures for launching 98 e-services in 16 government departments were reengineered, the report said.

Implementation has already started in 13 governmental institutions for reengineering procedures, where a total of 243 services were reengineered; 86 e-services are operational and 36 services have been automated.

In the healthcare sector, a total of 20 health centres were expanded or constructed, while four hospitals were expanded. Work was also completed in the 200-bed Al Iman Hospital in Ajloun and the 350-bed new Salt Hospital.

On Social Safety Net programmes, the total number of families benefiting from the National Aid Fund reached 92,519 families by the end of 2017, at the cost of JD100 million.

Youth empowerment 

As for the youth sector, the report underlined “vital programmes” that were carried out to raise awareness about the dangers of extremism and terrorism, confront hate speech and educate youngsters on other societal problems such as drugs and violence. A total of 50,000 young people benefited from these programmes.

The government established 12 social sports clubs and eight football fields in the said timespan.

Tourism: success story

The report highlighted achievements and progress in various aspects of public administration, including the tourism sector, where the number of visitors to the Kingdom rose to 5.2 million in 2017, an increase of 8.7 per cent compared with 2016, and tourism income increased by 12.5 per cent during 2017 reaching $4.6 billion.

Jordan also ranked among the top 50 countries in the World Security and Safety Index, attracting tourism, moving up two spots on the global tourism scale.

The Kingdom has been listed as one of the top 2018 tourism destinations by many international travel magazines such as National Geographic, Vogue (USA), Sunday Times (UK), Conde Nast (UK) and The Guardian.

Other achievements 

The government in 2017 “successfully carried out municipal and local council elections”, and provided all means of support to the Independent Election Commission, the
report said.

On this note, Amman was chosen as the capital of Islamic culture in 2017, given the great role played by Jordan in highlighting the tolerant image of Islam, and standing up in the face of challenges and the practices of extremists, according to the report.

The report also cited progress in combating crime and drugs, reporting  a 91.5 percentage of solved crimes in 2017 (total number of crimes is 21,920, of which 20,060 were reportedly solved).

The total number of drug cases amounted to 13,950, and the number of people involved 19,930, of whom 1,321 were treated in addiction treatment facilities.

Also in 2017, a total of 37 draft and amended laws were approved and referred to the Parliament for approval. The Cabinet also approved 157 draft and amended bylaws.

As for the Kingdom’s diplomacy and foreign affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has taken immediate practical steps to ensure the provision of better consular services to citizens.

The ministry also cancelled the tax exemption card for diplomats, consular corps and diplomats accredited to the Kingdom as of January 1, 2018, and established an electronic complaints system.

2017 also witnessed achieving the Jordanian-Russian-American agreement to support ceasefire in southern Syria, and establishing the de-escalation zone. Additionally, Jordan participated in the Astana talks (6, 7 and 8) as an observer.

DEAD SEA — The Centre for Strategic Studies (CSS) at the University of Jordan is drafting a report with a list of recommendations from experts in various fields to make amendments to policies affecting Jordan’s education, economy, foreign policy, youth, and employment sectors, among others, said CSS Director Musa Shteiwi. 

The report is the outcome of the three-day “Jordan Agenda Conference 2018” during which government officials, educators and business leaders gathered to assess problems and discuss new ideas under a mandate to "reinforce self-reliance”.

“Jordan is facing many challenges in many aspects and the government has taken several measures for the economy and other sectors. Nevertheless, there are issues and problems that have not been dealt with and we want to help the government place importance on the issues that have been overlooked,” Shteiwi said. 

Once the report is complete, it will be publicly released and sent to the government for approval. 

“When we send the report, in approximately two weeks, it will then be up to the government to accept and implement our suggestions. We are in no authority to force the government but we are sure that they will take our recommendations seriously,” Shteiwi stated.

However, the CSS director ensured that they would find ways to follow up with the government and perhaps push for some “lobbying”.  

He said that although there are many priorities in their list of recommendations, which is yet to be released, governmental reform is on top of the list. 

“We want to push for rule of law, government efficiency and the role of public sector in promoting economic development, particularly in supporting industry and agriculture,” Shteiwi said. 

In addition to putting together recommendations for change, the conference also created a space for dialogue between the public and private sectors, according to Shteiwi, who said that "people want to see dialogue. When these two sectors in society meet and discuss freely without any pressure; and when the issues that we are suffering from and all the ideas are openly on the table, it allows for coordination and an understanding of how the other side thinks".

AMMAN — The Jordan Farmers Union (JFU) on Sunday called the agricultural sector to a consultation meeting later this week in order to decide on an escalation plan against the imposition of a tax on agricultural production’s inputs and outputs.

“The JFU calls on all components of Jordan’s agricultural sector to attend the consultation meeting on Wednesday at noon at the Sports City [in Amman] to decide on measures addressing the government’s recent imposition of a unified tax of 10 per cent on some agricultural production’s inputs and outputs,” JFU President Mahmoud Oran told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

The union demanded that the government annul its January decision, warning that it will “destroy the already ailing sector”.

In a statement released on Sunday, the union said that it would follow several measures in order to see the tax imposition on the sector annulled.

Such measures include resorting to judiciary, stopping the supply of produce to the local market as well as “other escalation measures which will be announced in due time”, according to the union.

Representatives of the agriculture sector last week held a press conference in which they warned that the decision of imposing taxes on certain fruits, vegetables and agricultural machineries will have negative ramifications on the sector and the families it supports.

Imposing the tax will limit the use of and trade in agricultural technologies and machineries, the union said, warning that it will also cost Jordan the loss of its international markets and compromise the competitiveness that the country’s agricultural produce enjoy abroad.

The union said that the decision, which the government took without consulting the sector’s representatives, will also discourage investment in agriculture, drain the income of many families and lead to a hike in prices of food commodities and agricultural produce.

Small farmers will be highly affected by the decision, which, the said, will force them to abandon cultivation, leading to an increase in imports of food commodities and a rise in trade deficit, Oran said in previous comments to The Jordan Times.

The union urged the government to reconsider the decision and suspend it, granting it a 10-day ultimatum.

“Nothing happened on this regard since we held the conference last week, which is why we are meeting this Wednesday,” Oran concluded.

AMMAN — MPs have submitted a total of 173 questions to the government on various issues since the beginning of the current ordinary session on November 12 last year until January 31, 2018.

According to the half-monthly report on its work, the Lower House said that the government has answered "only" 87 of the total 173 questions submitted by MPs with 61 of which came after the two-week deadline set in the Chamber's bylaws.

In the report, a copy of which was sent to The Jordan Times, the House said it has submitted four memoranda to the government; four queries and four suggestions of laws throughout the 24 sessions it has held since November 12.

The House said it has held six oversight sessions during which a total of 49 questions to the government have been discussed. 

The House said it has passed 16 laws and amended laws, including the 2018 state budget and budgets of independent government units laws.

The Chamber's permanent committees have held a total of 255 meetings, of which 67 were for the Financial Committee, the report said. 

AMMAN — Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh on Sunday said that the government will respond within 10 days to MPs' recommendations on recent increases to sales taxes.

Last week, the House submitted a total of 13 recommendations to the government which Tarawneh described as "binding".

The House recommended that the government draft an amended version of the General Tax Law giving MPs the exclusive power to set upper tax limits.
Lawmakers also recommended that the government put in place a comprehensive economic plan to increase public revenues, suggest solutions to unemployment and reconsider the tax imposed on certain commodities.

MPs also called on the government to lower agricultural production costs and open new markets for local agricultural exports, in addition to monitoring banks’ measures concerning interest rates to prevent manipulation.

Deputy Khaled Hiyari, head of the Agriculture and Water Committee, criticised the government's decision to increase taxes on certain commodities, especially agricultural products.

"Dismayed" over what he described as the government's "rejection" to cancel tax hikes on agricultural products, Hiyari announced his resignation from the panel.

Farmers and agriculture stakeholders continued their sit-in in front of Parliament on Sunday protesting against the recent tax hikes on the agricultural sector.
The House on Sunday resumed its deliberations of the draft public universities law, rejecting a recommendation by its Education Committee to allow reappointing of professors in state universities if they resign to run for parliamentary elections or are appointed under a Royal decree in senior government positions. 

The House did not discuss Sunday a memorandum signed by 24 MPs requesting a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Hani Mulki's government.

In the memo, a copy of which was seen by The Jordan Times, signatories only said their move aimed at "downing the government to save Jordanians from its unwise decisions".

AMMAN — The number of cancer patients in 2013 stood at 8744, the Sisterhood is Global Institute (SIGI) said on the occasion of World Cancer Day on Sunday, citing the national cancer registry report. 

Of the 8744 cases, 5416 were Jordanians and 3328 were Arabs and foreigners, SIGI said quoting the last published report.

Among all governorates, Amman has the highest cancer rate of 61.9 per cent, with Tafileh registering as the lowest with 0.7 per cent, SIGI said.

The number of Jordanian women cancer patients was 2,852 which is 52.7 per cent of the total Jordanian patients, according to a SIGI statement.

February 4 marks the annual World Cancer Day, an initiative implemented by The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). Founded in 1933 in Geneva, UICC comprises 765 member organisations from 155 countries.

According to SIGI, the most widespread types of cancer among women are breast cancer (1040 cases, 36.5 per cent), colorectal cancer (268 cases, 9.4 per cent), thyroid cancer (175 cases, 6.1 per cent), cervical cancer (152 cases, 5.3 per cent), and leukaemia (134 cases, 4.7 per cent).

Among men, the most common types of cancer are colorectal cancer (325 cases, 12.7 per cent), lung cancer (283 cases, 11 per cent), bladder cancer (214 cases, 8.3 per cent), and prostate cancer (197 cases, 6.6 per cent), according to SIGI. 

The report stated that the most common types of cancer among children (15 years and less) were blood cancer (32.9 per cent), brain and nerve cancer (17.9 per cent), lymphatic cancer (11.1 per cent), bone cancer (7.9 per cent), and kidney cancer (7.5 per cent).