Gov’t approves allocation of JD10m from Himmat Watan Fund to equip field hospitals

AMMAN — The government has approved Himmat Watan (A Nation’s Effort) Fund’s recommendation to allocate JD10 million to sustain Health Ministry’s efforts towards equipping field hospitals and to hold the necessary agreements to transfer COVID-19 patients to private hospitals, Himmat Watan Fund Vice Chairman Jamal Sarayrah announced on Sunday.

Noting that Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Bisher Al Khasawneh has endorsed the recommendation of the committee tasked with managing the fund, Sarayreh said that the amount will be allocated to back Health Ministry’s efforts towards providing services to COVID-19 patients, as the number of reported infections is increasing and overwhelming public hospitals’ capacity.

The donations made to the fund so far totalled JD94.2 million, out of which JD92.6 million has been disbursed as follows: JD73 million for the National Aid Fund, JD4.2 million for the Ministry of Health to provide PCR and coronavirus testing kits, JD2 million for Tkiyyat Um Ali, and JD1 million to the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation, the official said.

He added that JD2 million has been allocated to support Foreign Ministry’s safe return programme, lunched to ensure the return of Jordanians stranded abroad, adding that an amount of JD433,000 was allocated to provide the Jordan University Hospital with ventilators and dialysis equipment, in addition to the JD10 million channelled to equip field hospitals, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Stressing that the release of the funds is subject to a “transparent and clear mechanism”, Sarayreh said that the management committee of the donations’ main account reviews periodical reports issued by the recipients of the donations on their spending. 

The Himmat Watan Fund was created through Defence Order No. 4 to receive donations to support the Kingdom’s efforts to eradicate the novel coronavirus. The establishment of the fund aims at institutionalising the donation process and ensuring sound management of the received funds, according to the government.

The government had said that Defence Order No. 4 separates such funds from the government's general revenue account "to ensure that this spending goes to the designated aspects".