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AMMAN — Central traffic and highway patrol departments and the Jordan Traffic Institute  on Wednesday called on motorists to check on their vehicles’ ability to operate during winter.

The Traffic Department is scheduled to embark on a winter campaign next Sunday, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During the campaign, traffic patrols will stop vehicles randomly to check on their preparedness and a sticker will be placed on the vehicles that pass the test, those who fail to pass the test will be given a one-week notice. 

AMMAN — Social Security Corporation (SSC) Spokesperson Musa Sbeihi confirmed that the SSC has facilitated the optional registration process through the provision of electronic payment services, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Wednesday.

He said that the optional registration services including the submission of applications, regulation of the annual increase and the suspension of the optional registration will only be executed electronically through SSC’s website.

The subscription payment service for optional registration subscribers will only be limited to electronic payments. Sbeihi mentioned that 2,273 Jordanian expats submitted applications for optional registration through the website.

AMMAN — Labour Minister Ali Ghezawi on Wednesday inaugurated the National Forum for Increasing Employment Opportunities, organised by the Labour Ministry in partnership with the German International Cooperation Agency/Enhanced Productivity Programme (GIZ /EPP), the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In his remarks, Ghezawi affirmed, in the presence of the Regional Director of the GIZ in Jordan and Lebanon Michaela Baur, that poverty and unemployment are the biggest challenges facing the economic and social progress in any developing society.

The minister said the government is seeking to address unemployment by providing jobs for youth through innovative ways. Baur highlighted the objectives of the forum in bringing stakeholder in the field of employment to reach a unified solution to unemployment.

AMMAN — On the occasion of the centenary of the Balfour Declaration, marked on November 2, Islamic Brotherhood Group condemned the declaration describing it as “ominous”.

In a statement, the group said that the declaration, after 100 years, is still affecting the Arab and Islamic worlds. “It led to establishing a colonial, occupying and aggressive entity that replaced a majority of people with a minority that was gathered from every corner of the world”, the statement said.

The group called on the UK to stop “celebrating the continuation of the last occupation on earth” and to apologise for the humanitarian catastrophe that resulted from the declaration. The group also called on Arab countries and international community to support the Palestinians.   

AMMAN — Constitutional Court President Taher Hikmat on Wednesday received a judicial delegation from Morocco’s constitutional court to review Jordan’s experience in the judiciary field, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Hikmat briefed the delegation on the court’s achievements, stressing the keenness to extend bridges of communication and cooperation with the constitutional courts through visits and meetings.

Mohammad Ansari, a member of the constitutional court of Morocco, praised the achievements of Jordan’s Constitutional Court and the level of support and cooperation between the two courts and countries.

AMMAN — Government officials on Wednesday met with civil society representatives to discuss the national report on racial discrimination that will be submitted during a UN session later this month.

The meeting, which was organised by the office of the government coordinator for human rights Basel Tarawneh, in collaboration with Al Hayat Centre — Rased, involved representatives from the civil society, activists and members of the Jordan’s delegation that will present the report during the meeting of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 23.

“The government had already prepared its report last year and we decided to hold a meeting between the civil society and government official representing the delegation to Geneva to hear their remarks,” Tarawneh told the gathering.

“We realised that the civil society did not prepare any shadow reports to present during the UN session, so we decided to hold this meeting, get their remarks about the report and any other issues that they would like to pinpoint so we can present it on their behalf when we head to Switzerland,” Tarawneh told The Jordan Times.

Several NGO representatives criticised the organisers and government representatives “for holding the meeting with them a bit too late”.

Both head of the Freedom’s Committee at the Professional Unions lawyer Walid Udwan and lawyer Samir Jarah stressed that “the civil society should have met with the government a long time ago because the report was prepared last year and the government had plenty of time to invite us to discuss it”.

Jordan Jurist Association Secretary General Noor Imam agreed, adding that “the meeting gave us an incentive to follow up on future reports by Jordan in various international conventions and to really work on preparing shadow reports ahead of time.”

Imam, a lawyer and activist, said that “it was also important for the government to know that it should invite the civil society ahead of time to give us time to present our points and respond to their reports.”

Several civil society group members stated that they had “no clear knowledge about the time of the meeting or the fact that they had time to prepare a shadow report”.

“It was surely a lesson learnt for us to prepare for such activities ahead of time,” Imam added.

The civil society representatives made several remarks related to women Christian’s rights, the right to hold activities without being banned by the authorities and rights of Palestinians who carry the Jordanian nationality.

At the end of the meeting, Tarawneh stressed that “all comments made by the civil society and any future comments that will be delivered to [his] office before heading to Geneva will be taken into consideration and presented in the utmost transparent matter during the discussion of Jordan’s report at the session”.

The CERD is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by its state parties.

All state parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the committee on how rights are being implemented nationally. States must report one year after acceding to the convention and then every two years. The committee examines each report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the state party in the form of “concluding observations”.

AMMAN — Madaba has joined the UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network under the Crafts and Folk Art category, Tourism Minister Lina Annab said on Wednesday.

Madaba was among 19 cities from countries that had not been represented in the network before, Annab said in a statement, adding that UNESCO launched the network in 2004 to enhance cooperation with cities that adopted creativity as a strategic factor for civil development.

The minister said that the candidacy file was presented in June by a specialised local committee that comprised several representatives from local departments in the governorate. 

AMMAN — The government’s designation of November 1 as a national day for olive picking was a result of its awareness of the sector’s importance from economic, social, cultural and environmental point of views, Agriculture Minister Khaled Hneifat said on Wednesday.

Deputising for Prime Minister Hani Mulki, Hneifat inaugurated the ceremony marking the day, which aims at instilling the values of cooperation and solidarity among all classes of society, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The total area planted with olives in Jordan stands at 1.26 million dunums, constituting 77 per cent of the Kingdom’s area planted with fruit trees, the minister noted. Figures for the current season estimate the total amount of olives at 252,000 tonnes, 50,000 tonnes of which are expected to be used for pickling and the rest to produce some 36,000 tonnes of olive oil, according to Petra.

AMMAN — Minister Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury on Wednesday stressed the importance of supporting Jordan to enable it to continue providing services to the Syrian refugees and the Jordanian host communities.

The support is also significant to enhance and sustain the Kingdom’s resilience, a ministry statement said.

The remark came during Fakhoury’s meeting with UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock.

Fakhoury stressed the importance of investing in Jordan and its stability to preserve its resilience in light of the regional situation.

The minister noted that Jordan is seeking the continuation of the partner’s support to bridge the financial gap through additional grants to support the public budget, which would lead to improving the quality of services provided to the Syrian refugees and the host communities.

Fakhoury briefed Lowcock on the economic challenges facing the Kingdom generated by the regional instability and the burdens of hosting the Syrian refugees.

He also outlined “the Jordanian model” in dealing with these challenges.

The Planning Minister reviewed the national economic situation and the economic and social challenges the Kingdom is facing, in addition to the efforts exerted to boost economic growth and combat unemployment and poverty.

He said that hosting refugees has added new economic and social burdens on the budget and affected the infrastructure, services, and the sectors of education, health, water and municipalities.

The minister highlighted the importance of the international community’s commitment to maintain the momentum of support to Jordan, especially the Jordan Response Plan.

He underscored the need for the UN organisations to deepen their coordination with the Jordanian government prior to preparing the regional response plan to the Syrian crisis by considering the national priorities of the Syrian refugees host countries and funding host communities development projects with the beneficiation of domestic expertise and capabilities. 

Fakhoury stressed that despite the current challenges that Jordan is facing, the government has continued its holistic programme of reform enhancing its resilience and transforming challenges into opportunities through preserving the macroeconomic and financial stability.

He noted the government’s action plan represented by the Executive Development Programme 2017-2019 and the Programme to Stimulate the Economic Growth 2018-2022, which is based on the Jordan Document 2025.

For his part, Lowcock commended Jordan’s pivotal role in the region, the reform programmes, and the holistic development led by His Majesty King Abdullah, citing the Kingdom as “a role model” in the region.

Fakhoury and Lowcock discussed preparations for the regional response to the Syrian crisis, which will be implemented by the UN organisations, in addition to Brussels conventions next spring, according to the statement.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Hani Mulki on Wednesday received a copy of the National Centre for Human Rights’ (NCHR) 13th annual report on the human rights situation in Jordan for 2016 from the centre’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees Mohammad Bakhit, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The report included the prominent issues related to the human rights situation in Jordan and the governmental procedures required to follow up on the centre’s recommendations and their implementation.

The Prime Minister pointed out the importance of the studies carried out by the NCHR in supporting the government’s efforts in the fields of reform, especially in education, which is considered a basic human right.

Bakhit pointed out that the 13th report tackles all aspects of civil, political and social life, in addition to social justice with all its implications, the rule of law, the promotion of freedoms and development in all governorates, taking into account the regional challenges surrounding Jordan.