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AMMAN – The Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission said Saturday it dealt with 7,220 cases of electricity thefts in the first quarter of 2016.

In March alone, it handled 2,487 cases, Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission Chief Commissioner Farouq Hiyari told The Jordan Times Saturday.

Majority of the cases were in the central region area, according to the commission.

Of the total cases detected, around 672 cases were referred to court since the beginning of this year until end of March, he added.

The official called on citizens to report any attempts to tamper with the grid or any cases of electricity thefts to authorities, which harms power supply.

The commission has recently implemented several campaigns to raise awareness among citizens on the serious consequences of electricity thefts as it also launched simultaneous campaigns to crack down on violators.

The official added that the commission, in collaboration with concerned authorities and power distribution companies in the Kingdom, will continue efforts to put an end to the issue of electricity thefts.

Electricity theft is estimated to cost the Kingdom about JD60 million annually. 

Current laws stipulate that any person involved in stealing electricity faces between six months and two years in prison, and a fine of no less than JD2,000 and no more than JD10,000, or both penalties.

AMMAN — Their Royal Highnesses Prince Hamzah and Princess Basma Hamzah on Friday welcomed a baby girl, whom they called Badeah, a Royal Court statement announced.

The Royal Court congratulated Prince Hamzah and Princess Basmah and wished the newborn good health and prosperity under the care of her parents. 

AMMAN — Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury on Saturday called for enhancing economic reform programmes in a way that protects social balance and supports lower and medium-income segments through a nationwide programme.

Attending the ninth youth economic forum, organised by the Jubilee School, Fakhoury described investment in the youth as “the most esteemed type of investment”, and a national project to address present and future challenges through providing young people with the necessary expertise to participate in comprehensive and sustainable development.

Khalifah Miqdadi, head of the humanitarian initiatives section in the school, said the event aimed at providing students with a chance to discuss solutions to national economy problems, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

AMMAN ­­­­— More than 400,000 additional vehicles are expected to be roaming Amman during the coming holiday season, prompting officials to work on traffic plans to ease the customary traffic jams in the capital, a Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) official and a senior traffic officer said on Thursday. 

Mohammad Faouri, director of joint management at GAM, said the high season usually starts between June and September. 

“GAM and Central Traffic Department (CTD) will be deploying vehicles to ensure smooth traffic flow in the capital during the coming period,” Faouri told The Jordan Times over the phone on Thursday. 

Faouri said a package of “traffic solutions” will be implemented ahead of the summer holiday, in which hundreds of thousands of expatriates return home from abroad, especially from the Gulf countries. 

“We will install traffic lights on Istiqlal Street and we will carry out improvements to main roads. Also, GAM has transformed many plots of lands it owns into parking lots to try address the lack of parking spaces in the capital,” he added. 

The municipality official added that GAM would also carry out a campaign to regulate the valet service to render it more effective, which will also contribute positively to solving the problem of parking spaces.

He noted the shopping centres and areas including Jabal Al Hussein and Suweifieh are the main hub for the capital’s visitors. 

Meanwhile, CTD Director Col. Bassem Kharabsheh expecting the number of visiting vehicles  to exceed 400,000, due to the situation in the region. 

“Jordan will be their main destination. We expect that most visitors will come from the Gulf,” he told The Jordan Times on Wednesday. 

He noted that the CTD is also holding a campaign to make sure that the traffic law is enforced to ease traffic congestions. 

AMMAN — Around 2,000 mosques in Jordan are expected to be fully running on renewable energy in two years, reducing their energy consumption by a minimum of 90 per cent, a government official said on Thursday.

Currently, 400 mosques in Jordan generate their needs of electricity via solar energy projects. In Jordan, there are some 6,300 mosques, but only 2,000 of them need renewable energy projects as their electricity bills are too high, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Hayel Daoud said Thursday.

“The remaining mosques do not need such project at this stage as their monthly bills do not exceed JD15 to JD20 per month,” said the minister following the signing of a JD4 million agreement with the Jordan Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund (JREEEF) to support a project to increase funding to mosques to use renewable energy installations to generate power.

Under the agreement, funding provided to mosques under the project will be increased from 20 per cent to 50 per cent, while the remainder will be covered by donations from philanthropists and charities.

Solar panels with total generating capacity of 4 megawatts will be installed.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ibrahim Saif said the project will play a key role in reducing energy spending.

The minister added that the mosque’s current annual energy bill stands at around JD8 million.

“This scheme will significantly reduce costs. Bills of some of the mosques that already have these solar panels reach zero most of the time,” said Saif.

The minister added that JREEEF is working in line with a strategy to implement projects in various areas including households, mosques, hotels, public agencies and other areas to boost usage of green energy.

AMMAN — French President François Hollande is scheduled to visit the Kingdom on April 19 and meet with His Majesty King Abdullah, a Royal Court statement said Thursday. 

The two leaders are scheduled to discuss bilateral relations, partnership, supporting regional stability and combatting terrorism. 

As part of his visit, Hollande is due to attend the Jordanian-French economic forum to be hosted in Amman, in which businesspeople from both countries are expected to take part and discuss prospects of cooperation. 

Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania in January 2015 participated in a march “of defiance and sorrow” in Paris to pay tribute to victims of terrorism in France.

AMMAN – Jordan’s medical laboratory sector is marked by quality services, making the Kingdom a distinguished medical hub for the region, said HRH Princess Basma on Thursday. 

She made her remarks during the opening of the activities of the 4th International Jordanian Conference of the Jordan Society for Medical Laboratory Sciences and the 1st Conference for the Association of Laboratory Proprietors and Medical Analysis. 

“The number of medical laboratories in Jordan increased from two; one established in Maan in 1927 and the second in Amman in 1940, to reach 500 in the private and public sectors,” noted the princess, who added that there are currently 900 specialists and technicians working in the field. 

She underlined the importance of the event, which coincides with the World Health Day, marked annually on April 7. 

“This medical event comes in light of difficult regional and international situation, during which the lives and health of many are on stake due to the lack of healthcare services, acute shortage in medicine and medical supplies, the destruction of hospitals and the forced displacements,” said the princess. 

The three-day event brings together 400 experts from Arab and foreign countries to exchange expertise and know-how in a way that contributes to improving medical labs sector. 

Health Minister Ali Hiasat highlighted the ministry’s efforts to develop the sector, which resulted in better detection of infectious and communicable diseases.

He cited the establishment of a laboratory specialised in diagnosing influenza virus and another to detect salmonella.

On the other hand, President of the Association of Laboratory Proprietors and Medical Analysis Salwa Ammarin stressed the technicians’ commitment to improving the services of the sector and their efforts to establish a professional association that includes all workers in the field. 

The event is organised in cooperation with the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine and the Arab Federation of Clinical Biology.  

AMMAN — Relatively hot weather is forecast for the weekend, when temperatures are expected to rise by nine degrees above their annual average for this time of the year, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said on Thursday.

A weak thermal depression accompanied by a relatively hot air mass will affect the country on Friday, according to JMD meteorologist Raed Rafed.

"The weather on Friday and Saturday will be warm in high mountains, and relatively hot in the rest of the country and temperatures will be well-above the annual average for this time of the year of 21ºC," Rafed told The Jordan Times.

Daytime temperatures on Friday will be 29ºC, dropping to 18ºC at night in Amman, while winds will be slow and changing.

Another slight rise in temperatures is forecast for Saturday, when temperatures will range between a high of 30ºC and a low of 20ºC in Amman, according to the JMD.

Rafed noted that although the weather will be hazy on Saturday, the country will not be under the impact of a khamsini depression.

During the khamsini weather phenomenon hot, sand-laden winds, originating from the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, annually move east of the Mediterranean Sea around this time of year and are usually preceded by unseasonably high temperatures, and dry and dusty conditions.

The name of the phenomenon is derived from khamsin — meaning 50 in Arabic — because it usually occurs during a 50-day time frame, from March 21 through May 10. 

Khamsini weather conditions affect the eastern part of the Mediterranean at an average of once a week during this period, according to the JMD.

"Hazy weather is expected on Saturday due to moderate to brisk southwesterly winds, especially in the southern and eastern parts of the country, where road visibility will be up to 3 kilometres," Rafed said.

High-and-medium-altitude clouds are expected to form by Saturday afternoon across the country, giving way to light rain, according to the department, which said that winds will change to northwesterly moderate.

On Sunday, the country will be affected by unstable weather conditions, during which temperatures will remain above the annual average for this time of the year, while skies will be cloudy and scattered showers are forecast, especially in the southern and eastern parts of the country.

Temperatures during the day will be 29ºC, dropping to a low of 15ºC at night in Amman, while winds will be southwesterly moderate to brisk, raising dust in the badia, according to the JMD.

AMMAN — The US was ranked the 4th least costly country to make remittances transfers to Jordan, according to a report by the Remittances Prices Worldwide by the World Bank.

The report indicated that to send $500 from the US to Jordan, the cost is 6.32 per cent of the total transaction.

The transfer speed for the amount ranges from 3-5 days, the World Bank index reported.

According to the report, Qatar was first on the list among the least costly countries to send remittances to Jordan with a 4.9 per cent transfer fee, the UAE came second with around 5.1 per cent and Saudi Arabia came third.

The time needed for money transfer from Qatar or the UAE to Jordan ranges from 1-5 days, according to the report, which indicated that the global average of fees for sending remittances reached 7.3 per cent by the end of the first quarter of this year.

Sending money from Saudi Arabia to Jordan requires one day, according to the report.

Remittances of Jordanian expatriates rose by 1.5  per cent in 2015 compared to 2014, according to the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ).

The total remittances to Jordan amounted to $3.798 billion in 2015 compared to $3.743 billion in 2014, the CBJ added.

Jordan depends heavily on expatriate remittances and receipts from inbound tourism, two main sources of foreign currency.

Launched by the World Bank in 2008, the Remittances Prices Worldwide is a key tool to monitor the cost incurred by remitters when sending money along major remittances corridors.

AMMAN — The quarter close to Temple of Artemis in northwestern part of ancient Gerasa (Jerash) has not been explored enough in the past, so the aim of an archaeological project initiated by German and Danish universities in 2011 has been to investigate material evidence in the highest area within the city’s boundaries.

“The idea was developed by Rubina [Raja] and me,” said Professor Achim Lichtenberger from University of Bochum. We both had worked before on the Decapolis and Jerash, and planned to start this project.”

The heydays of Gerasa were in the late Roman and early Byzantine times, according to available evidence, but new research has proved that the city continued to be an important centre during early Islamic times as well. Nevertheless, the turning point was a devastating earthquake in 749AD, which destroyed the urban structure and depopulated the city.

Later on, in the Ayyobid/Mamlouk period (1174-1517), the city continued to live but did not reach the previous glory, according to scholars. The gap between the earthquake and establishment of Ayyubid dynasty has not been explored enough according to Raja, a professor of classic archaeology at the Denmark-based Aarhus University.

“There is some evidence for this period from the city centre,” she stressed. However, in the Northwest Quarter, where we are working, no noteworthy evidence for the intermediate period is available yet,” Raja claimed.

“We have found a small Mamluk hamlet in the Northwest Quarter. This hamlet is much smaller than the Roman, Byzantine and Early Islamic settlement,” Raja underlined.

However, the piece of evidence from the quarter is until today the most important item suggesting the Mamlouk presence in Jerash, “although it needs to be emphasised that more might have been there, but remains unpublished,” the scholar highlighted.

The so-called Golden River (the Chrysorrhoas), described in inscription and coins from the Roman period, played a very significant role in the development of the urban area. The city was split by the Yabbok River (the modern day Zarqa River) and the city sides had been connected with bridges.

Several monuments from the Roman and Byzantine epoch prove the importance of water supplies — Nymphaeum and two large baths, one in the eastern and another in western parts, archaeologists emphasised.

Gerasa was also a religious centre with around 20 churches and some of earliest mosques in the region.

The team used new scientific methods while researching the northwestern quarter of the ancient Gerasa: “We have implemented archaeometrical analyses that have been used for other places in the Mediterranean before, but which have been little used in Jerash,” explained Lichtenberger.

“They give us a lot of new data which is basic research which will have long-lasting impact for a better understanding of the city.”

The Northwest Quarter Project is still ongoing and the German-Danish archaeological team is looking forward to continuing its fieldwork.

“We hope to continue excavations this year. The application has been handed in to the Department of Antiquities [DoA] and we hope to continue our excellent cooperation with the DoA,” Raja said.