PM says projects designed for Jerash to highlight its unique character

AMMAN — Prime Minister Hani Mulki on Saturday met with representatives of Jerash community and various sectors in the governorate.

He laid the corner stone for an industrial estate and the expansion of the craftsman zone, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Mulki, accompanied by a ministerial team, said Cabinet members are “public servants who should listen to citizens and meet their needs in accordance with available resources”.

Mulki announced that ministers of trade, labour and public works: Yarub Qudah, Ali Ghezawi and Sami Halaseh, respectively, are going to meet on Sunday to discuss ways of providing necessary funding to complete the Jerash industrial estate project. 

The industries to be hosted in the industrial estate should focus on "what makes Jerash relatively unique", Mulki said, highlighting the importance of providing all the necessary facilities to ensure the success of the crafts zone, which will go under the fourth stage of an expansion project. 

In this regard, the prime minister said the government and the Labour Ministry would exert the necessary effort to provide training and loans to Jerash citizens to enable them to establish projects in the zone. 

On other local issues, Mulki stressed that violations against woodlands and littering in forest areas and picnicking sites by visitors must be stopped.  

Regarding education, Mulki underlined the need to establish comprehensive schools that teach their students science, art, handicrafts and electronics, noting that an experiment to open such a school will start in Aqaba from the first until 12th grade in order to allow students to determine their future paths. 

The attendees also discussed building new roads to prevent traffic accidents and establishing projects that encourage tourists to stay overnight in Jerash through focusing on services in the city itself, not only within ancient locations. 

The industrial estate extends over a 208-dunum land at a cost of around $5.5 million. It is funded through the Saudi grant managed by the Saudi Development Fund, Petra reported, adding that the project is expected to be completed in the beginning of 2018 and to contribute to stimulating economic activity in the governorate and reducing poverty and unemployment. 

For his part, Jerash Mayor Ali Qoqazeh briefed the premier and the Cabinet members on the craftsman zone project, established over a 43-dunum land at a total cost of around JD1.8 million.

The project is going to create 600 to 700 job opportunities and contribute to supporting a 2017 project to make Jerash an eco-friendly governorate, through moving all professions and handicraft shops to the crafts city. 

The ministers took turns to talk about projects designed for Jerash.

Interior Minister Salameh Hammad said that the decentralisation and municipalities elections will be held in mid-2017 “to boost the public participation in the democratic process”. 

Labour Minister Ali Ghezawi said his ministry continues to address unemployment in the governorate, highlighting a recent government decision to make it mandatory for contractors executing jobs in which governorates to employ a quota of Jordanian residents from the same area in which the projects are implemented. The minister also highlighted plans to extend loans to youth so that hey can start small and medium enterprises. 

He said that his ministry made a deal with the Industry, Trade and Supply Ministry to establish a factory in the industrial estate to provide jobs, especially to females, noting that around 400 job opportunities will be available to women in Jerash as part of efforts to employ Jordanian workers instead of guest workers, especially in professions that are off-limit to non-Jordanians. 

Municipal Affairs Minister Walid Masri said that municipalities in Jerash have in the past three years received JD38 million in funds to implement capital projects, pointing out to the Cabinet’s recommendation to conduct a study on 12 municipalities challenged with indebtedness, including Jerash’s, so as to find solutions to this problem. 

The rest of the ministers discussed agricultural, water, educational, tourism, health and infrastructure projects being conducted in the governorate, while Jerash Governor Qassim Mheidat said the governorate is currently witnessing the implementation of various projects at a cost of JD46 million, most significant of which is the King Abdullah II School for Excellence and the expansion of the Jerash Public Hospital. 

Jerash MPs, senators and officials discussed the governorate’s demands, which focused mainly on the municipalities’ debts and complaints related to traffic, healthcare, sewage, education and youth issues.