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AMMAN — Hostilities across southern Syria drove over 1,000 Syrians into the Kingdom over the weekend, as Jordanian officials called for urgent international support to face a deepening refugee crisis.

The Jordan Armed Forces said some 600 Syrians crossed into the country on Saturday and 500 on Friday, continuing an ongoing influx that has seen over 2,000 arrivals over the past 72 hours.

Syrian activists and border region residents claim that clashes between regime and rebel forces are threatening the lives of over 7,000 displaced civilians who have allegedly sought refuge in under-siege towns.

According to the Fee Syrian Army, 20 displaced people were among the casualties of regime-led air strikes over the weekend, raising to 210 the total number of refugees who have allegedly lost their lives in Damascus’ three-month aerial offensive across southern Syria.

Meanwhile, Jordanian officials called on the international community for emergency assistance in order to cope with a growingly “unpredictable” humanitarian crisis that continues to drive thousands of refugees into the country.

In an interview with the Al Arabiya news network on Friday, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh urged the international community to “shoulder its responsibility” and step up its support to the Kingdom as it struggles to cope with the burdens of hosting an estimated 1.2 million Syrians.

UN officials have renewed calls on the international community to increase its support to host countries such as Jordan, whose refugee community is expected to cost the government over $2 billion in 2014.

The UNHCR recently issued a ranking of the top 10 refugee hosting countries, on which Jordan came third, after Iran and Pakistan.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Saturday called for openness and expertise exchange among state agencies in order to eliminate barriers between government apparatuses and improve the quality of work.

Speaking at the second Government Leaders Forum, he underlined the need for all institutions to cooperate with the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in Government Performance and Transparency to implement its concepts.

Ensour noted that the new civil service bylaw, which came into force this year, will contribute to addressing challenges facing government agencies, especially the bloated employment structure, as studies show that there are more than 20 employees doing the job of one in some institutions.

"The government apparatus is bloated and needs to be streamlined and strengthened," he said, calling for a return to the "old, strong and more effective system" of public administration.

"We need an efficient administrative apparatus," the premier said.

Outlining the main features of the new civil service system, he said all appointments will be made via annual contracts, which guarantee that only eligible civil servants will get to keep their jobs.

The new regulations also take job security into consideration, Ensour noted, adding that only "balanced" decisions would be adopted in that respect to avoid unfair treatment of employees by directors of public institutions.

He urged civil servants to shun "unjustified delays" in serving the public, which, he said, is "a matter that cannot be accepted under any pretext".

The premier also criticised some decision makers' indecisiveness for fear of being accused of corruption.

"The blind fear of corruption is worse than the actual acts of graft," he warned, adding that the "people want a fair and firm state.”

"Every Jordanian is insulted when someone bullies the state," he said, vowing zero tolerance towards corruption or negligence and noting that "gone is the era of blackmail".

AMMAN –– Jordan missed several economic opportunities in 2013 that could have boosted gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate and increased per capita income, economists said recently.

At a seminar held on the last day of 2013 by Al Rai Centre for Studies on Jordan’s economy in terms of current performance and future scenarios, the experts indicated that authorities had failed to promote Jordan as a stable country in a rough neighbourhood to attract foreign and domestic investors.

Economist Jawad Anani said that he expected the economy to expand by at least 4 per cent, describing the 3 per cent GDP growth projected for last year as reasonable due to regional instability.

Anani indicated that per capita income in the Kingdom went down last year as the population of the country increased by nearly 7 per cent, to over half a million people, because of the influx of Syrians.

“The year 2013 could have been a better year for the economy,” he said, adding that the country missed the opportunity to benefit from its stability as the investment environment was not attractive enough.

Several investors left the country while a number of planned projects were delayed, noted Anani, a former Royal Court chief who held several ministerial portfolios. Anani, currently a senator, has also served as the head of the Economic and Social Council (ESC).

He pointed out that officials have also missed the chance to utilise the $5 billion Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) grant, to be spent for five years, starting 2012, on development projects.

“They spent a long time on identifying the types of projects to be funded by the grant,” he said, adding that the government had failed to best utilise the funds made available by the GCC donors.

“The $5 billion grant should generate another $5 billion in financial returns,” Anani explained.

ESC Chairman Munther Shara agreed with Anani that the investment environment was not attractive over the past year, calling for revisiting investment-related legislation in terms of incentives and entities in charge, with the aim of streamlining the sector.

Blaming slow economic growth on domestic and regional factors, Shara called on the government to direct investments from the Gulf grant to renewable energy projects to bring an end to the Kingdom’s energy crisis.

Studies show that a square metre in the Kingdom’s southern part receives the highest volume of sunshine in the world, he said, stressing the need to implement solar power schemes.

Adli Kandah, a leading banker, said that consecutive governments have failed to identify the sectors that would lead growth in the country.

In the 1960s and 1970s the restaurants sector used to lead growth, over the past two decades the mining, services and hospitality sectors led economic expansion, he explained.

In the coming years, Kandah said renewables and tourism sectors would lead growth in Jordan, “which means that the government should work on securing incentives and financing to these sectors”.

Attending the session was Omar Zu’bi, secretary general of the Finance Ministry, who said that the decline in growth rates from nearly 7 per cent prior to the global financial crisis to an average of 3 per cent over the past four years was not a surprise for policy makers.

“What surprised us is that the slowdown remained for years,” he said, blaming the continuing slowdown on frequent regional crises.

Laith Al Qassem, an analyst and a private sector leader, noted that the large size of the public sector remains a problem hindering economic growth, adding that there is no constant care about the investment environment in the Kingdom.

He stressed the need to invest in the energy field, particularly renewables, as the sector should top the government’s priorities in the medium and long terms. 

AMMAN — A nine-year-old boy purportedly “took his own life in Zarqa last week after being bullied by his schoolmates for having a deformed hand”, a senior medical source told The Jordan Times on Saturday.

The child complained to his family that boys at his school were mocking him as he did not have any fingers on his right hand, the source said.

“On Monday morning the boy hung himself with a belt in his closet... his family took him to hospital where he died shortly after being admitted,” the source added.

Pathologist Zeid Azza performed an autopsy on the victim and indicated that he died of strangulation.

AMMAN — US Secretary of State John Kerry is due in Amman on Sunday, after concluding shuttle meetings with Palestinian and Israeli officials over the past three days, sources said on Saturday.

Although the visit was not announced, Kerry is scheduled to meet with His Majesty King Abdullah and senior officials, government sources told The Jordan Times.

Over the past three days, Kerry held intense talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

American officials have privately said they believe the direct talks, resumed in July after a three-year hiatus, have reached a new phase as a late April deadline for an accord looms, but are struggling to overcome fierce opposition from both sides, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Saturday.

Palestinians protested against Kerry as he met President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank for six hours late on Friday, the AFP said, adding that about 100 people from the left-wing Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine waved Palestinian and red flags in Ramallah’s central square after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Abbas and the Palestinians of not being committed to peace.

The US official visited Jordan last November as part of a regional tour, where he met with King Abdullah and discussed peace efforts and the latest regional developments, in addition to the Syrian crisis and its impact on the Kingdom.

During his last visit, Kerry said the Kingdom is important to the peace process because “Jordan is not just a neighbour, not a passive bystander in this process. Jordan is integrally involved and has high stakes in the outcome of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the question of peace”.

“Jordan has a long border with Israel and the West Bank. The Palestinian territories and Jordan have been a partner for peace with Israel, with the United States and all those people who are looking for stability and peace and to end this conflict in the region,” Kerry told reporters then.

AMMAN — Unstable weather conditions which started affecting the Kingdom on Saturday are expected to continue until Sunday night, according to the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD).

Abdul Naser Samhori, a meteorologist at the JMD, said the unstable conditions might bring scattered showers on Sunday, especially in the southern and eastern regions of the Kingdom.

Samhori added that the weather will be relatively cold and partly cloudy, with the rain expected to be accompanied by thunder.

Noting that easterly winds are expected to raise dust in desert areas, he called on motorists to exercise caution.

Temperatures in Amman are forecast to range between a high of 12°C and a low of 3°C on Sunday, Samhori said, adding that it will continue to be relatively cold until Thursday, when unstable weather conditions might return in the evening.

On Sunday, mercury levels are expected to range between 10°C and 2°C in hilly areas, 20°C and 8°C in the Jordan Valley, 14°C and 2°C in the badia region and 19°C and 9°C in Aqaba, according to a JMD statement.

The department warned of flood formation in valleys and low-lying areas, especially in the eastern and southern regions.

Samhori dismissed as baseless media reports claiming that snow is expected in some areas on Thursday, reiterating that the unstable weather conditions will return and bring rain.

The country’s dams currently hold 40 per cent of their total capacity of 325 million cubic metres (mcm), with 132mcm channelled to the 10 major dams during the wet season so far, according to the Water Ministry.

During this time last year, the dams held 51.6mcm, or 16 per cent of their total capacity.

AMMAN — Enthusiasm filled the air on Saturday as hundreds of students were given a platform to demonstrate newly developed skills they mastered under the “Haqeq” (achieve) initiative.

In the presence of HRH Crown Prince Hussein, founder of the self-advancement programme, some 1,200 ninth and tenth graders of both sexes celebrated their graduation as the first batch of participants, awaiting a journey of “self-exploration and good deeds” under the project’s upcoming phases.

“I never imagined myself standing in front of an audience and expressing myself, but Haqeq gave me strength and showed me that I have all that it takes to overcome my fears,” Mohammad Salem, a ninth grader from Deir Alla told The Jordan Times on the sidelines of the ceremony.

He added that public speaking “has always terrified me’’, but it became his signature skill.

But for Zeina Saqer, Siham Kiswani and Farah Odeh, the acquisition of self-defence techniques was their favourite achievement.

“We used to be told that girls could not perform activities that involve physical force,” they said, adding that martial arts have strengthened their self-esteem and discipline.

Launched in April 2013 in cooperation with the Education Ministry, the initiative seeks to change the life of young Jordanians in an institutionalised manner that benefits the country through inculcating a sense of volunteerism, teamwork, democracy and belonging, according to Haqeq Director Thabet Nabulsi.

“Participants have been chosen from across the Kingdom according to specific standards and received six months intensive training to improve their social, leadership and physical skills,” he said, adding that the training included workshops, field trips, camps and social service programmes.

Saturday’s ceremony included a documentary highlighting the role of Haqeq and voluntary work carried out by its participants.

Students involved in Haqeq showcased a number of projects implemented under the initiative at the World Economic Forum meeting held in Jordan last year.