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AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Saturday stressed that precautions taken during the Tawjihi winter session have “restored the prestige of the national exam”.

In a letter sent to the ministers of education and interior on Saturday, the premier noted that the measures succeeded in improving confidence in the General Secondary Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) as a criterion for equality and justice among students that reflects their true abilities without interference.

“These measures have put an end to violations and breaches witnessed in previous years, which had harmed the reputation of the exam and raised doubts on its credibility and integrity,” Ensour said.

The cooperation between public, private and security institutions was manifest in the winter session, he added.

The premier also thanked all stakeholders, students and parents for placing public interest above everything, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Students’ Tawjihi grades decide their future in higher education. It is the main criterion to determine which specialty they can major in, which public university they can enrol at and whether they are qualified to go to university.

Around 170,969 students registered for the winter session, including 89,286 boys and 81,683 girls, of whom 106,684 are regular students, according to the Education Ministry.

In previous remarks, Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat said the integrity rate in the Tawjihi winter session, which concluded last Tuesday, stood between 85 and 90 per cent and that the exams were held with a “very high” level of discipline.

He added that around 24,000 registered students did not sit for the winter session exam, during which some 6,000 violations were recorded.

In order to avoid a repeat of the “flagrant” violations witnessed in previous sessions, the ministry took strict measures this year, such as appointing 24,000 monitors and installing special devices to jam mobile reception, thus foiling attempts to cheat through cellular phones.

These procedures cost the government around JD26 million.

ABU DHABI –– Renewable energy is the most viable approach for the future of Jordan and regional countries, according to International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Director General Adnan Amin.

“Jordan is a very interesting market because it has a very developed institutional structure in terms of government agencies dealing with energy issues,” Amin said in a recent interview with The Jordan Times on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

“Jordan is looking very positively at the future of renewable energy,” he added.

The potential for the Kingdom to start investing in major power generation projects and renewable energy is there, Amin said, noting that its renewable energy market can be bigger with regional integration.

He said IRENA will be engaging with Jordan in the near future to help it achieve its ambitions in renewables.

Under the Kingdom’s 2007-2020 energy strategy, the government had established a renewable energy target equivalent to 7 per cent of the energy mix by 2015 and 10 per cent by 2020.

The plan calls for up to 1,000-megawatt (MW) of wind, 600MW of solar and 50MW of waste-to-energy to be brought online by 2020.

“Renewable energy is the cheapest option to provide electricity access to people,” Amin said, adding that for an oil importing country like Jordan, which is vulnerable to the price of oil, renewable energy resources that are indigenous and inexhaustible can power the country’s future.

Jordan has one of the highest annual daily averages of solar irradiance in the world, with 330 days of sunshine per year, official estimates indicate.

In addition, the Kingdom has significant amounts of untapped wind energy, with wind speeds as high as 7.5 metres per second and up to 11.5 metres per second in hilly areas, according to energy experts.

Region’s future

Asked if IRENA has any estimates for the value of projects and jobs from green energy to be created in the Middle East, Amin said a study the agency conducted on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries shows that if GCC members meet their targets by 2020, around 116,000 jobs will be created every year.

“The GCC countries have already started targets, and they are not huge targets, ranging between 7 per cent and 10 per cent,” he noted.

“We see similar trends in the MENA region in which Jordan is located,” Amin added.

Green energy will be the main driver of the economy in the future as it would create new industrial structure, new areas of growth and new jobs, the IRENA chief said.

“If Jordan starts an investment programme in renewable energy with a local value chain, and manufacturing industries are associated with the investment, you can be generating new areas of growth,” Amin added.

Nuclear versus renewable

Asked about the comparison between nuclear and renewable energy, Amin said every country has to decide its own energy policy, but IRENA’s job is to tell each nation about the opportunities of renewable energy as it can be a growth industry that creates economic value and jobs.

The cost issues of renewable energy are developing in such a way that are much cheaper than nuclear energy and safer, he said, indicating that there are many expenses associated with nuclear energy that are not applicable when utilising renewable resources, such as risks, insurance and development costs.

“Our belief is that renewable energy is the most viable approach for the future and much more environmentally safe,” Amin stressed.

AMMAN — Around 100 Jordanian activists gathered outside the Egyptian embassy in Amman on Saturday to celebrate the third anniversary of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising and protest against the ouster of ‎Egypt’s former president ‎Mohamed ‎Morsi.

Security personnel who were present at the demonstration, organised by the Jordanian Commission to Support Freedom and Legitimacy in Egypt, outnumbered the protesters.

A number of employees at the Egyptian embassy were seen taking photos of the demonstrators.

Participants waved the Egyptian and Jordanian flags and held banners expressing solidarity with protesters at Rabaa Al Adawiya Square in northeast Cairo, where security forces killed hundreds of people on August 14 while breaking up a sit-in by Muslim Brotherhood supporters.

The protesters had set up camp there in solidarity with ousted Islamist president Morsi, who was elected after the January 25 revolution.

The Jordanian activists took turns speaking about the anniversary and condemning Morsi's ouster.

They also performed the Maghrib prayer outside the embassy.

Abdul Hadi Falahat, the president of Jordanian Commission to Support Freedom and Legitimacy in Egypt, said Jordanians support Egyptians in their quest to regain democracy and freedom.

"The military coup that took place in Egypt will contribute to destroying Arabs' determination towards democracy," he told The Jordan Times during the demonstration.

Ahmad Saafeen, one of the demonstrators, said January 25 is significant, marking the day when people took a stand against oppression and injustice.

He also noted that Egypt experienced great days full of justice and hard work under Morsi's rule.

Muhannad Shatnawi said people became aware of their rights and how to choose the best leaders on January 25, while Mohammad Ali noted that Egyptians did not regain full freedom with the removal of Hosni Mubarak after some 30 years in power.

"The intention of keeping military rule in Egypt was there in the first place. Only one person was removed, not a whole system," Ali said.

He charged that there is a conspiracy against Egypt because it is one of the leading countries in the Arab world.

"If the Egyptian revolution had been successful, it would have inspired all Arab nations to demonstrate against their oppressive regimes," he claimed. 

AMMAN — India is keen on strengthening its cooperation with Jordan in economic, industrial and trade spheres as well as in the areas of defence, consultation and expertise exchange, India’s Ambassador to Jordan Radha Ranjan Dash said.

In an interview with The Jordan Times on Friday on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of his country's republic day, the ambassador highlighted current cooperation and prospects for further joint projects.

"There is a lot of scope,” he said, describing Jordan as a model in the Middle East. “It remains an oasis of peace and stability," Dash noted, underlining the importance that India attaches to ties with the Kingdom.

India’s republic day commemorates the day when the constitution of India came into force on January 26, 1950. The day officially marks the birth of an independent India and the swearing-in of its first president, Rajendra Prasad, after 100 years of British rule.

An annual parade will take place near India Gate in the capital, New Delhi, featuring members of the navy, air force and army to mark the occasion.

The country's 28 states bring their cultural troupes who perform throughout the parade for visitors from different parts of India and abroad, the ambassador said.

Well ahead of the republic day, festivities were under way in several parts of India, with participants hoisting the Indian tricolour and chanting the words "Vande Matharam,” which means "Salute our Mother Land."

Today, with a population of more than 1.21 billion, India has become the world's third largest economy in purchasing power parity terms.

Its relations with Jordan are steadily progressing in various fields, according to Dash.

“We are very hopeful that there will be more business between the two countries,” the ambassador said, noting that the “fairly balanced” bilateral trade volume totalled $1.23 billion between January and October 2013.

"We are importing phosphate, potash and phosphoric acid to make fertilisers. India is a big market. We need fertilisers for our agriculture," he said, underscoring the huge opportunities that Jordan can tap.

Jordan's imports from India include frozen meat, basmati rice, machinery, pharmaceuticals and spare parts, the envoy indicated.

As part of ongoing cooperation, an $850 million joint venture between the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC) and the Indian Farmers Fertilisers Cooperative will become operational in March 2014, he noted.

Moreover, the JPMC, Gujarat Narmada Fertiliser Company and United Phosphorous Limited signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding in March 2013 to set up a new phosphoric acid plant in Jordan, according to the ambassador.

“I am confident this project will be implemented,” Dash said.

An Indian business delegation is due to visit Jordan to explore prospects for more cooperation and "we are trying to schedule the meeting in 2014," he elaborated.

Now, "we are waiting for two delegations to visit India," he noted. The first comprises pharmaceutical representatives, and the second small- and medium-sized enterprises, Dash added, underscoring the potential for expertise exchange and setting up joint ventures.

With India's vast experience in IT, Jordan has embarked on cooperation in this domain.

In February 2013, India's Amity University Online and the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh University signed an agreement paving the way for access to online higher education in a range of streams, the ambassador said.

Dash also highlighted tourism cooperation and ongoing consultations between the foreign ministries of Jordan and India.

There are direct flights between the two countries and Jordan is just five-and-a-half hours away, he said, adding that “people to people contact is very important.”

Around 80,000 Indians visited Jordan in 2013; they come to see Petra, Wadi Rum, Aqaba and the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth, Dash said.

Moreover, Bollywood has also been showing an interest in exploring Jordan as a location for shooting films, according to the ambassador.

A song in "Krrish 3", a 2013 science fiction film, was shot in Jordan and “shows Petra’s Treasury”, the ambassador noted.

At present, the Indian community in Jordan is estimated at around 10,000, most of them employed in the garment and health sectors.

Some 25 garment factories in Qualifying Industrial Zones are owned by Indians with an investment of over $60 million, providing jobs to more than 9,000 employees.

New Delhi and Amman signed the first cooperation agreement in 1947, when India gained its independence, and diplomatic ties were formalised in 1950, according to the Indian embassy. 

AMMAN — Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) agents arrested seven suspects, including three Arabs, who allegedly attempted to smuggle 30 kilogrammes of heroin via a northern border crossing last week, official sources said on Saturday.

Border personnel and agents from the department became suspicious of a vehicle that was entering the Kingdom last week and decided to conduct a thorough search, a senior AND official said.

“The search yielded 30 kilogrammes of heroin that was hidden in secret compartments on the sides of the vehicle,” the official explained.

Preliminary questioning of the driver and two of the passengers indicated that the men were purportedly “intending to deliver the illegal narcotics to four Jordanian men”, according to the official.

“The authorities arrested the four men... who confessed that they planned to smuggle the illegal drugs to a neighbouring country,” he said.

The State Security Court prosecutor issued an order for the suspects to be detained for 15 days pending further investigation into the case.

Heroin is a highly addictive drug derived from morphine, which is obtained from the opium poppy, according to web sources.

The dangers of heroin use include fatal overdose, high risk of infections such as HIV/AIDS, collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, and liver disease.

In a similar operation last month, AND agents impounded 10 kilogrammes of heroin that was hidden in a big fire extinguisher on a truck that was attempting to cross the port city of Aqaba to a neighbouring country and arrested a group of suspects.

Earlier this month, AND Director Col. Sami Askar said that 8,945 suspects were involved in around 6,504 drug cases last year.

In 2011, AND agents seized 92.4 kilogrammes of heroin, while in 2010, the amount stood at 255 kilogrammes, according to official statistics.

AMMAN — The Ministry of Water and Irrigation has removed an illegal pipe in Um Al Amad in south Amman as part of a nationwide crackdown on water theft, according to a government official.

The violators extended a pipe from a main water conveyor and have been pumping 1,200 cubic metres of water daily, a source at the ministry said on Saturday.

“The violators were transferring the water to irrigate their farm in Um Al Amad and also pumped water into tankers and sold it to people,” the source told The Jordan Times.

The area was suffering from supply disruptions, he said, noting that a team comprising members from the Jordan Water Company (Miyahuna), the Gendarmerie and the Royal Badia Forces headed to Um Al Amad.

The ministry, which initiated a national campaign in August last year to prevent water theft and vandalism of water resources, intends to put an end to these violations.

Hundreds of illegal water pipes were removed over the past months, while scores of unlicensed wells were sealed, according to officials.

Earlier this month, the government gave the Water Ministry the authority to deal “strictly” with all forms of violations on the water network in cooperation with district governors, the Public Security Department and the Gendarmerie.

“Therefore, the ministry is moving ahead with its campaign and is targeting areas where frequent violations on water resources occur,” the source noted.

Most networks that suffer from recurring violations are located in south Amman, the Jordan Valley, Mafraq and Zarqa, according to the ministry.

AMMAN — Last year, Jordanian authorities failed to amend the Penal Code in line with the Constitution’s free speech guarantees strengthened in 2011, and continued to prosecute individuals on charges such as “insulting an official body”, according to an international watchdog.

World Report 2014, Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) 24th annual review of humant rights practices around the globe, claimed that Jordan was still using vaguely worded Penal Code articles that place impermissible restrictions on free expression.

In October 2012, Parliament approved amendments to the Press and Publications Law that require all independent news websites operating within the country to register with the Press and Publications Department, and empower the director of the press department to block unregistered sites, the report said.

“The amendments also make an electronic publication’s owner, editor-in-chief and director responsible, along with the author, for comments or posts that users place on its website,” HRW said.

“They also require the editor-in-chief of each news website to have been a member of the Jordan Press Association (JPA) for four years, although the JPA’s bylaws limit its membership to employees of print publications,” the New York-based watchdog’s report said.

It added that on June 2, 2013, the director of the Press and Publications Department issued an order to block over 260 news websites that refused to register in protest against the new press law requirements.

Some blocked news websites registered with the press department in November after losing a lawsuit to overturn the order.

Government officials have maintained that the new version of the Press and Publications Law is aimed at regulating electronic media outlets to ensure their integrity, dismissing any suggestions that the law seeks to restrict media freedoms.

Commenting on the Public Gatherings Law, which took effect in March 2011 and allows Jordanians to hold public meetings or demonstrations without requiring prior permission from the government, HRW said: “Prosecutors continued to charge protesters with participating in unlawful gatherings under Article 165 of the Penal Code.”

The watchdog also criticised Article 9 of the Citizenship Law, which denies women married to foreigners the right to pass on their nationality to their husbands and children.

“The children of a Jordanian man are Jordanians wherever they are born,” the article reads, with no mention of the children of Jordanian women.

The government has recently announced plans to grant civil rights to the husbands and children of Jordanian women married to foreigners.

The plans, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour has said, were introduced by parliamentarians to ease problems facing these women, including their children’s rights to education and health services.

He stressed that the move will have no political implications in a bid to placate critics who fear that the decisions would be a prelude to “settling Palestinians in Jordan” under pressure from Israel and world powers.

Around 84,711 Jordanian women are married to foreigners, according to figures released by the Interior Ministry, meaning the imminent government decision would benefit them and their families, totalling around 340,000.

In its report, HRW also criticised maintaining articles 98 and 340 of the Penal Code that allow reduced sentences for perpetrators of “honour crimes”.

The report also tackled the issue of administrative detention, noting that local governors continued to use provisions of the Crime Prevention Law of 1954 to place individuals in administrative detention for up to one year in circumvention of the Criminal Procedure Law.

“The National Centre for Human Rights reported that 12,410 persons were administratively detained, some for longer than one year, in 2012,” HRW said.

Government officials were unavailable to comment on the report despite several attempts by The Jordan Times.

The 2014 report also listed foreign aid that the Kingdom received last year.

World Report 2014 summarises key human rights issues in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide, drawing on events through November 2013, according to HRW. 

MAFRAQ/PETRA — Jordan has dealt with the Syrian refugee crisis with “unparalleled” generosity and humanity by granting refuge to thousands on its lands, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Friday.

Canada takes pride in its support to help Jordan deal with the repercussions of the Syrian crisis, Harper said, adding that his country will continue its assistance, which is an embodiment of its partnership with the Kingdom.

In remarks to the media during a visit to the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Mafraq on Friday, Harper commended the role of the Jordan Armed Forces, the border guards and the Jordanian people in hosting Syrian refugees, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Harper presented the first batch of Canada’s assistance, which includes vehicles to transport refugees from border crossing points to the Zaatari camp.

During the visit, Harper toured the camp with his wife and accompanying delegates and met with camp officials who briefed him on the situation of refugees and the improvements introduced to the facility.

Also on Friday, the Canadian premier and his wife visited the ancient city of Petra and were briefed on the Nabataeans’ role in building the rose-red city and its historical significance, in addition to its importance now as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Harper visited the Siq, the narrow path leading to Petra; the Treasury; the Nabataean Theatre, the courthouse and the Byzantine church at the site, in addition to the museums.

The Canadian premier was in Jordan as part of a regional tour.

He met with His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday and discussed developments in the Middle East and means to improve bilateral ties.

Harper also met with Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour.

His Middle East tour, which started on January 18 and concluded on January 25, marked his first visit to the region. 

AMMAN — The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Saturday said it will reveal a “new” corruption case in the next few days.

“This case is different in nature and will prove the need to have an entity like the ACC,” ACC President Samih Bino said in a lecture at the Amman Chamber of Industry on Saturday.

He did not elaborate further.

Bino was addressing a group of officials, MPs and intellectuals over the progress in the fight against corruption.

He was one of the speakers at the Jordan Transparency Association’s one day event to look into the decline in the Kingdom’s ranking on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI).

According to the index, the Kingdom scored 45 points on the CPI 2013, compared with 48 in 2012, and ranked 66 among the 177 countries surveyed, compared with 58 last year.

One of the CPI’s main outcomes was that Jordan’s public sector was perceived to be more corrupt in 2013 than in 2012.

Meanwhile, the Lower House is still looking into 12 draft amendments to the ACC Law that seek to enable the commission to further enhance its jurisdiction and tools to uncover corruption cases.

The new law will help the commission adopt preventive measures against potential corruption cases.

However, the commission has been complaining about its low budget in the past few years, citing this as a major obstacle facing its operations.

The ACC is understaffed, according to previous remarks by Bino, who said it needs to attract competent employees to carry out its duties in a proper manner.

The commission is investigating almost 650 cases of alleged corruption, but it does not have enough funds to protect witnesses and informants.

The ACC was established in 2006 by a Royal Decree to strengthen confidence in state institutions and provide justice and fairness for all citizens. 

AMMAN — Jordan on Thursday voiced its “absolute rejection” of plans to establish an Israeli airport near the Kingdom’s border over “several technical and legal issues”.

Setting up the planned Timna Airport to the north of Aqaba on the Israeli side of the border will pose a breach of Jordan’s sovereignty over its own airspace, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sabah Al Rafie said.

Jordan made its stand clear at a meeting held on Thursday morning by the joint Jordanian-Israeli transport committee to discuss the projected airport, which the Israeli authorities have started work on, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted Rafie as saying.

The project, she added, is in violation of international laws, especially Article 1 of the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation, noting that it also violates the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

The said article reads: “The contracting states recognise that every state has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory.”

Jordan stressed at the meeting that building the airport in that location will threaten aviation safety in the entire region, Rafie added.

Jordanian officials cited the planned Timna Airport’s close proximity to the King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba.

The Kingdom’s delegation at Thursday’s meeting was headed by Transport Ministry Secretary General Laith Dababneh, Petra reported.

Jordan notified Israel of its rejection of the airport project last year.

In October 2013, Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission Chief Commissioner Mohammad Qaraan said the Kingdom made its position on the airport clear at a meeting with Israeli officials.

The airport, which Israel plans to build some 18 kilometres north of its port city of Eilat, will serve domestic and international flights and is projected to open in 2016, according to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.