‘Genuine partnership between stakeholders key to success of decentralisation experience’

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah has stressed the importance of building the institutional capacities of governor offices, executive councils and governorate councils to be able to formulate strategies to determine development and service priorities, according to a Royal Court statement.

During his meeting with sitting governors at Al Husseiniya Palace on Tuesday, attended by Prime Minister Hani Mulki, His Majesty addressed the governors saying: “You have a national responsibility and a key role in the development of governorates through building these strategies and follow up on their implementation.”

His Majesty noted that the next stage should see established cooperation between the executive and governorate councils, which, he said, work in the spirit of one team in serving the public interest.

Governorate councils, which were elected on August 15 along with municipal councils and mayors, have replaced assigned consultative councils to work side by side with local executive councils, in a bid to enhance the oversight role of citizens and public participation in decision making as developmental planning and allocation of funds will be vested in the new councils.

The King also stressed the need for citizens to feel the effects of decentralisation through improving the quality of services provided and the distribution of development gains.

King Abdullah pointed out that the first experience of Jordan in decentralisation, as part of a reform package, would accelerate the pace of achievement at all levels.

His Majesty urged cooperation with the private sector in the capital projects endorsed by the governorate councils as such a partnership would help reduce the rates of poverty and unemployment.

Governors are expected to be in continuous communication with the local community to identify the needs of residents and to identify their problems, along with their job to enhance the rule of law in the districts under their jurisdiction.

The King said that genuine partnership between governors and governorate councils is key to the success of the decentralisation experience.

For his part, Mulki said that the relationship between governorates and executive councils is an organic one aimed at providing the best services to citizens, pointing to the importance of training programmes for the councils to clarify their roles and responsibilities.

Mulki pointed out that the government has allocated JD220 million for governorates to spend on capital projects next year.

For their part, governors agreed that the success of the decentralisation process is based on building a participatory relationship between their offices, the elected councils and local communities.

The meeting was attended by Royal Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh, Director of the King’s Office Jafar Hassan and the Interior Minister Ghaleb Zu’bi.