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AMMAN — Workers at clearance companies operating in Aqaba said Wednesday they were determined to go ahead with a work stoppage protesting their relocation to a new site as the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) said it will move ahead with the plan.

“We have been holding a work stoppage for the past five days and we will continue with it. ASEZA wants to relocate us from the main port in Aqaba to another location, which is around 35km away from the port,” Salah Shamaileh, head of a committee representing workers at clearance companies, told The Jordan Times.

“The road leading to the new location where they are planning to move is known as the death road, because many accidents occur there. In addition, the site in the new location is smaller and far from the customs facilities we need to work with to finish clearance papers. ASEZA will close the main customs centre at the port,” Shamaileh said.

Mahmoud Khleifat, ASEZA secretary general and commissioner for customs and revenues, said the relocation will start on Sunday, adding that the new venue has facilities for all the relevant departments, including customs, the Jordan Food and Drug Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture.

“The relocation will help reduce pressure on the port significantly. There will be more space for the handling of containers and shipments,” said Khleifat.

“When all authorities are in one place, it will make the work of clearance companies faster. The new location is built in line with international standards and is spacious,” he added.
“The Ministry of Public Works and Housing will conduct some expansion and rehabilitation of the main highway leading to the new location. In addition, it will install lighting units along the road,” said Khleifat.

Also on Wednesday, Nabil Sharabati, representative of the electronics sector at the Jordan Chamber of Commerce board, called for resolving the issue of the strike, noting that 150 containers loaded with electric appliances have been waiting for clearance measures for four days, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

He warned that the strike comes at a bad time as the private sector is preparing for the fasting month of Ramadan, expected to start in early June and during which consumption rises substantially, and the summer season.

Acknowledging employees' legitimate rights, Sharabati argued, however, that frequent strikes could drive away investors.

AMMAN — Al Arabiya News Channel will broadcast a documentary next week on the internal policies that enabled Jordan to maintain its security and stability despite regional unrest.
In the documentary, titled "Jordan: A Building in the Eye of the Storm", the Dubai-based, Saudi-owned satellite channel will showcase how certain Jordanian domestic policies, which it calls "secrets", enabled the Kingdom to remain secure and sound although surrounded by crises in Iraq, Syria and Palestine.
On its website, the channel says the documentary will shed light on other challenges Jordan has overcome, including terrorism, refugee influxes and the consequences of recession in the world economy.
The documentary will air in three episodes on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at 7pm Jordan time.
Al Arabiya News Channel, a 24/7 free-to-air news and current affairs satellite outlet, was launched in 2003.
It has nearly 30 offices around the world, with a "large-scale presence" in countries, such as Iraq, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Yemen.

AMMAN — HRH Princess Muna has been appointed as a commissioner in the UN High‐Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth.

The newly established commission was formed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in response to the UN General Assembly Resolution (A/70/L.32), which recognises that investing in new employment opportunities in the healthcare sector adds broader socioeconomic value to the economy and contributes to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a Royal Court statement said.

Princess Muna has been named to take part in this commission, co-chaired by French President François Hollande and South African President Jacob Zuma, "based on her capacity as a world-renowned figure in the fields of global health and social development", the statement added. 

The princess is also "a well-known advocate of programmes that support the Sustainable Development Goals", with an emphasis on alleviating poverty, promoting maternal and child health and strengthening the healthcare workforce.

As a World Health Organisation (WHO) patron for nursing and midwifery in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, vice-president of the Royal College of Nursing of the United Kingdom and an honorary adviser for WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Development in Jordan, Princess Muna has addressed several health forums on the importance of empowering the health workforce globally.

She has also been a recipient of several honorary doctoral degrees and fellowships and a number of international awards, 

In Jordan, Princess Muna helped found the Princess Muna College of Nursing in 1962, and she is the founder of the Jordanian Nursing Council, which was established in 2002, as part of her early commitments to the provision of quality nursing and the advancement of nursing services, practice and education.

The main objective of the UN commission is to propose actions to contribute to global inclusive economic growth, create decent jobs and achieve universal health coverage for all, with the aim of complementing global development efforts set by the international community, according to the statement.

Issues to be addressed by the commission will be essential in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. 

In addition to the goals related to health, decent work and economic growth, the commission will address issues related to employment and social protection as a means to reduce poverty; the education of healthcare workers; employment in the health sector; health as an important tool to tackle inequality; and cross-sectoral partnership. 

The commission aims to put the advancement of the healthcare profession at the forefront of all considerations since it has a direct and meaningful impact on the economy and human life, the statement said.

Its first meeting, recently held in Lyon, France and presided over by the presidents of France and South Africa, issued a communiqué that pointed to the importance of finding innovative ways to address health labour shortages and ensure a good match between the skills of health workers and job requirements, so as to foster the efficiency of the sector and its contribution to inclusive growth.

During the meeting, attendees also agreed on the need for a transformative people-centred health agenda, aimed at strengthening ways of investment in health and overall human capital at domestic, regional and international levels, including through the assistance of innovative financing instruments and multilateral development banks, which also takes into account the role of the private sector, the statement added.

The commission will soon begin to draft its report that will be presented to the UN secretary general in September 2016, and which will provide "a new, tangible and coherent set of guiding actions for all governments and relevant stakeholders". 

The commission "strives to offer recommendations that bring about a major political and qualitative shift" in investments in the health sector in order to stimulate inclusive and sustainable economic growth, productive employment and decent work, in addition to ensuring healthy lives and well-being, according to the statement.

Former higher education minister Rowaida Maaitah has been appointed as a consultant for Princess Muna during her work at the commission, whose co-chairs are supported by commissioners from across various sectors and multi-stakeholder groups, including developed and developing countries, international organisations, trade unions, academia and civil society. 

Co-vice chairs include WHO, the International Labour Organisation and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

AMMAN – HRH Princess Basma on Wednesday checked on two charitable initiatives in east Amman and Madaba, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In Amman’s Jabal Al Taj area, the princess was briefed by “Al Harah” initiative team on the positive effects of the project, launched in 2005, on targeted areas in enhancing the values of social solidarity and volunteer work.

While in Madaba, some 30km southwest of Amman, the princess visited Jidar Al Kair, which was launched in 2014 and aims at providing clothing to underprivileged students and Syrian refugees.

The initiative entails displaying donated clothes at two schools in the governorate every Monday and Thursday for those in need to take for free.

AMMAN — Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh on Wednesday stressed the importance of strengthening partnership between the House and civil society institutions, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Tarawneh made his remarks during the opening session of a regional meeting for centres of parliamentary research, held in cooperation with Westminster Foundation for Democracy, in which delegations from Arab and foreign countries are taking part.

The speaker said part of the House’s reform vision was establishing the “Centre for Legislative Studies and Research” in cooperation with the foundation. The two-day regional meeting discusses means to conduct good parliament research and includes a panel discussion on decentralisation.

AMMAN — The Jordanian Integrity and Transparency Coalition “Rasheed” on Wednesday issued a statement expressing its dissatisfaction over the transparency and anti-corruption bill that the Lower House endorsed on Sunday.

The coalition said the law is a “setback” in Jordan’s anti-corruption efforts and would negatively affect the country’s achievements. Rasheed says the bill restricts the authorities of the Anti-Corruption Commission and fails to address shortcomings in previous relevant laws.

AMMAN — The Civil Coalition for Monitoring Elections and the Performance of Elected Councils (Rasid) on Wednesday said it has recorded practices by the Jordan Teachers Association (JTA) elections committees that violate the integrity of the process, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. Rasid said it dispatched 42 monitors around the Kingdom.

Reports from 9am to noon revealed that many teachers complained that their names were not on the voter list although they had paid their syndicate subscription fee. This was the case of more than 500 teachers around the Kingdom until noon. Other violations include candidates advertising for their campaigns within the premises of polling centres.

AMMAN — The Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission (CARC) and the Egyptian civil aviation authority have signed an initial agreement to organise international air services between the two countries, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported Wednesday.

The agreement was signed during a two-day visit by a delegation from the Egyptian authority to CARC, which included discussions over international airfreight, and the operational status of the airspace between Jordan and Egypt.

The initial agreement is the first step for both countries to proceed with the constitutional procedures necessary to sign the final agreement to replace a previous one signed in 1986, Petra added.

AMMAN — The Labour Ministry on Wednesday said it continues to exempt children of Jordanian women married to foreigners from work permit fees under the privileges the government has granted to them.

Ministry Spokesperson Mohammad Khatib noted that the government has recently issued a decision that also exempts children of Jordanian women married to foreigners from fees on work permit stamps and any other dues, according to a ministry statement.

AMMAN — Jordan will switch to summertime (Daylight Saving Time) on Friday, April 1. Clocks will be set forward by 60 minutes as of midnight Thursday, March 31, making the Kingdom three hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+3).

Under a Cabinet decision taken in December 2013, clocks will be set back one hour to mark the start of wintertime on the last Friday of October every year, while they will be set forward one hour on the last Thursday of March every year to mark the start of summertime.