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AMMAN — Demand for the Kingdom's fruit and vegetables is rising in Gulf Arab countries, which imported over 3,000 tonnes of local produce in 48 hours, an official said Thursday.

Ministry of Agriculture Spokesperson Nimer Haddadin said the Kingdom exported to Gulf countries more than 2,000 tonnes of agricultural produce on Wednesday, and over 800 tonnes on Tuesday.

"The fruit and vegetables are being exported to the Gulf via Saudi Arabia. The increasing demand for local agricultural produce in the Gulf will help ease the losses of farmers as a result of the ongoing closure of our borders with Syria and Iraq," Haddadin told The Jordan Times.

He underscored that tomatoes make up the majority of Jordan's exports to Gulf countries, adding that exports will further increase as production surges due to the warm weather.

Haddadin expected the amount of agricultural exports this year to surpass exports during the same period last year due to the increasing Gulf Arab demand for Jordan's fruit and vegetables.

The Kingdom is among the top 10 world countries in terms of producing and exporting tomatoes, which constitute around 65 per cent of total exported agricultural produce, according to official figures.

The Gulf market is now seen as Jordan's prime importer of fruit and vegetables, consuming 83.2 per cent of the country's produce over the past year, according to the ministry.

The Syrian and Lebanese markets followed, importing 6.6 per cent of local fruit and vegetables; while Iraq imported 5.2 per cent; Israel 3 per cent; European countries 1 per cent; and a group of other countries 1 per cent, ministry figures indicate.

The Kingdom exported 783,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables in 2015, which generated revenues of JD520 million. 

Vegetables made up 82.4 per cent of last year's agricultural exports, 65 per cent of which were tomatoes.

AMMAN — The US will extend some $125 million over the next five  years to support Jordan’s water sector and projects in water conservation and efficiency, US Ambassador Alice G. Wells said Thursday.

The ambassador highlighted US support to the water sector in Jordan over the past six decades, noting that Washington will continue this support, including to the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project (Red-Dead), which plays a crucial role in saving the Dead Sea and meeting Jordan’s rising needs on water.

Speaking at a meeting held by EDAMA Association, Wells said the Red-Dead Project will bring benefits to all its stakeholders—Jordan, Israel and Palestine.

In 2015, the US Congress committed $100 million in additional support to the water sector, she added, noting that the pressure on Jordan's water resources has grown with the influx of Syrian refugees.

Stressing the significance of the Red-Dead Project, Water Minister Hazem Nasser said 300 million cubic metres (mcm) of water will be pumped each year under the first phase of the project.

Under this phase, a desalination plant will be built in Aqaba, producing some 65mcm of fresh water per year. The remaining 235mcm will be pumped into the shrinking Dead Sea.

“The Dead Sea is shrinking by one metre every year at present. With the start of this project, it will only shrink by half-a-metre each year, and we will continue to do more,” said the minister.

“We succeeded in isolating this project from politics, as in spite of the political differences among the involved stakeholders, we are going ahead with [it],” he added.

Nasser said he expects a memorandum of understanding between Palestine and Israel related to the implementation of the Red-Dead Project to be signed within six weeks.

The winning bid for the project will be selected by the end of the year, said the minister.

Construction is slated for 2017, and the project will be completed by 2020, he added. 

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a recent  Criminal Court ruling sentencing a 30-year-old man to 10 years in prison for murdering his sister in an Amman neighbourhood hours after she was released from prison in 2013 for reasons related to family honour.

The Criminal Court had declared the defendant guilty of stabbing his 25-year-old sister to death while at their home four hours after she was released from prison, and handed him a 20-year prison term.

However, the victim’s mother dropped charges against her son and the punishment was reduced to half.

The Criminal Court also acquitted the defendant’s 32-year-old brother and 62-year-old father of complicity in murder for lack of evidence. 

Court transcripts said the victim left her family’s home a few months before the incident, and was found by police and locked up in prison for her own safety.

On the day of the murder, November 12, 2013, the court maintained, the victim’s older brother bailed his sister out from the Jweideh Women’s Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre, and signed a guarantee that she would not be harmed.

But as soon as she arrived home, the defendant stabbed her repeatedly and then crushed her skull with an axe, according to the court.

The suspect then headed to the nearest police station and turned himself in, claiming that he killed his sister to cleanse his family’s honour and handed officers on duty the sharp tools he used in the murder, the court added.

The Cassation Court, which issued its ruling recently, said the Criminal Court’s verdict falls within the law and that the proceedings were proper.

The Cassation Court comprised judges Mahmoud Ababneh, Basil Abu Anzeh, Yassin Abdullat, Mohammad Tarawneh, and Dawoud Tubeleh. 

AMMAN —  The weather over the weekend is forecast to be fair, stable and sunny, making it suitable for picnicking in many areas across the Kingdom, a meteorologist said Thursday.

"The Jordan Valley, Dead Sea, Aqaba, Um Qais and Jerash areas will be good for going on picnics on the weekend, especially that wind will be moderate and no dust is forecast," head of the Jordan Meteorological Department's (JMD) weather forecast section, Raed Rafed, highlighted.

But he warned that the weather in hilly areas, such as Ajloun, where it is expected to be fair at noon, may turn into rather cold starting from the afternoon.

Temperatures in east Amman on Friday will range between a high of 22°C and a low of 10°C, while the western parts of the capital are expected to witness a high of 20°C, dropping to 8°C, Rafed said.

Mercury levels in Aqaba are expected to range between 29°C during the day and 18°C at night.

On Saturday, temperatures are forecast to rise by four to five degrees above their annual average, the meteorologist said, adding that it will be warm in most parts of the Kingdom and warmer in the Jordan Valley, with southeasterly moderate winds.

"Daytime temperatures in the eastern parts of the capital will register 25°C, dropping to 12°C, while in west Amman, they will range between 23°C during the day and 10°C at night," Rafed told The Jordan Times in a phone interview.

Temperatures in Aqaba will range between a high of 32°C during the day, which will drop to a low of 20°C at night, he added.

"Weather on Sunday will remain warm in most areas in the Kingdom... with southeasterly to southwesterly moderate winds," the forecaster added.

Mercury levels in Amman's western neighbourhoods will range between a high of 24°C and a low of 11°C, while the eastern parts of the capital are expected to register 26°C during the day and 13°C at night, the meteorologist said.

Temperatures in Aqaba will range between a high of 33°C and a low of 21°C, according to Rafed.

AMMAN — Jordan's Permanent Representative to the UN office in Geneva said on Thursday that refugee-related costs deplete around 25 per cent of the Kingdom's budget.  

At a meeting in Geneva, attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, Ambassador Saja Majali highlighted Jordan's burdens caused by hosting a large number of Syrian refugees, adding that all sectors, especially water, have been under "tremendous" pressure due to the refugee influx.

She added that 90 per cent of the approximately 1.3 million Syrian refugees in the Kingdom live in cities and villages, noting that they constitute around 20 per cent of the Kingdom's population, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Majali also said that there are 145,000 Syrian students receiving their primary and secondary education at public schools, noting that the international support to ease the pressure on the Kingdom's education sector does not exceed 25 per cent, while the rest is covered by the government.

Stressing that the whole world is facing an "unprecedented" refugee challenge, Majali called for solidarity and responsibility-sharing.

She also reiterated Jordan's unaltered position on Syria's ongoing conflict, which advocates a comprehensive political solution that can bring an end to the Syrian people's suffering and safeguard the territorial unity of their country. 

AMMAN — Border Guards received 103 Syrian refugees over the previous 24 hours and transferred them to shelters and camps, the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army said on Thursday.

Royal Medical Service personnel treated the injured and wounded, according to a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

AMMAN — HRH Princess Muna on Thursday attended a meeting for the faculty of nursing council at the University of Jordan to discuss its conditions during 2015, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Attendees discussed the results of a visit by the international accreditation delegation to the faculty, highlighting the changes that the faculty underwent.

AMMAN — A man died on Thursday after falling off a scaffolding at the potash plant in Ghor Al Safi while performing maintenance work, according to a Civil Defence Department (CDD) statement.

CDD cadres administered first aid to the man and took him to hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

AMMAN – A Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) pilot was killed and another was injured when their Hawk aircraft crashed early Thursday during a training mission, according to an army statement.

The statement by the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army identified the killed pilot as Major Muath Bani Fares and the injured as Captain Sharaf Al Tafour. 

The statement did not give details on the reason of the crash.
Bani Fares was 33 years old and married with three children. He is from the village of Ashrafiyah in the Koura District in Irbid, some 65 kilometres north of Amman, Ahmad Thyabat, a resident of the same village, told The Jordan Times. 

He will be laid to rest on Friday in his hometown, Thyabat said, adding the father of the fallen pilot is a retired major general and a former assistant to the director of the Public Security Department. 

The man said residents of the entire district of Koura were saddened by the tragic news. 

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Wednesday endorsed the 2016 by-law outlining the mechanism of the government's financial support for political parties. 

For a political party to receive funds, it has to be no less than one year old with at least 500 members from no less than seven governorates, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Women members should constitute at least 10 per cent of the party, while members from each governorate should make up 5 per cent at least.

Under the by-law, eligible political parties will receive JD50,000 in annual financial support from the government and an additional JD2,000 for each of their members who wins a Lower House seat, according to Petra.

The support for Lower House seats is capped at five members.

Political and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Khaled Kalaldeh said at the meeting that with the endorsement of the by-law, “the legislation and executive measures related to the Political Parties Law are now completed”.

Also on Wednesday, the Council of Ministers endorsed the 2016 draft weapons and ammunition law, Petra said.

Interior Minister Salameh Hammad said the law regulates possession of arms, import and export of weapons, and their maintenance and use, according to Petra.

The Cabinet also endorsed the 2016 amendments to the Tourism Law. 

These were made “to keep up with the quick changes in the tourism industry, to reduce violations by practitioners of the profession and ensure harmony and complementation among parties involved in tourism planning”, the agency said.