Officials, lawmakers take more action against corruption as Audit Bureau reports examined

AMMAN — The Lower House’s Financial Committee on Monday recommended restoring all the amounts, totalling JD704, 000, disbursed from electricity bills’ “Fils Al Reef” as “rewards and incentives” for the employees of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

The recommendations were made during a meeting led by the head of the committee, MP Khaled Bakkar, and attended by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati to discuss the Audit Bureau clarification request No. 34, submitted in 2018, for the fiscal year 2016, pertaining to the incentives.

Bakkar said that the committee decided to ask the Cabinet to reclaim all the funds and to inform the Energy Ministry to stop disbursements from “Fils Al Reef” as of June 1. Fils Al Reef is a levy added to the electricity bill to help expand the grid to rural areas.

The recommendations also called for putting clear criteria and standards for disbursing incentives, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

On Sunday, the government team tasked with reviewing the bureau’s notes for 2018 before the issuance of the annual report convened to address the cited violations.

Three violations, related to manipulating financial receipts in three public hospitals, were referred to the specialised attorney general, by the directives of Prime Minister Omar Razzaz, said Minister of State for Prime Ministry Affairs Sami Daoud.

He added that nine violations with graft suspicions were referred to the Jordan Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission as well.

Daoud, who heads the team, noted that the government and relevant bodies have processed 216 cases out of 616 documented by the bureau.