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AMMAN — Thousands residing in Zarqa Governorate's Jannaa neighbourhood may have to vacate their homes if no legal settlement is reached in a landownership case.

The issue dates back to 1948, when a wave of Palestinians took refuge in Zarqa, some 22km east of Amman, and initially resided in Zarqa camp. 

But as population density increased, expansion reached Jannaa, which became interconnected with the camp due to its proximity, said Zarqa Mayor Emad Momani.

In a phone interview with The Jordan Times on Saturday, he highlighted a multiplicity in ownership of the disputed land, adding that the majority of the plots belong to the Amman-based White Beds (Al Asirra Al Baydaa) Society home for the elderly.

Momani added that the rest of the land plots are owned by heirs of Bahaa Eldin Shishani and the Housing and Urban Development Corporation, in addition to the state.

He said the land sale occurred "outside the legal framework of the Department of Lands and Survey"; nonetheless, the municipality has provided residents with water and electricity services out of its "humanitarian" duty, especially that the majority of them face financial difficulties.

Lawyer Laith Shamayleh, who legally represents the majority of Shishani's heirs, said his clients have an official document that proves their ownership of 28 dunums and 553 square metres of the disputed land.

As the three-month-long negotiations with officials in the area to reach a settlement were not fruitful, judicial warnings were sent to some 300-400 housing units, where 10,000-15,000 people live without any proof of landownership, said Shamayleh.

He noted that his clients have the legal right to sue the residents for violating their property and to demand the "rent value of similar property”, noting that the majority of the population started living there during the 1950s and 1960s.

The “rent value of similar property” principle allows courts looking into rent-related disputes to determine a fair raise in rent by taking the current fee of a similar property in a similar area as the base of calculation. 

Shamayleh added that services provided to the residents have contributed to their increase, noting that some government agencies treat them as property owners and tax them accordingly.

But the lawyer said his clients are willing to negotiate the “rent value of similar property” with officials who have no personal interest in the matter, noting that some of the residents own businesses and shops.

Momani expressed hope for a state solution that does not threaten the social stability of the concerned residents, and — at the same time — does not violate owners' legal rights. 

He added that the municipality is willing to provide all it can to prevent the eviction of these residents.

"We do not seek to create any form of social instability… but a state intervention is needed to resolve the dispute," Shamayleh added.

AMMAN – King’s Military Adviser and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Gen. Mashal Al Zaben arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday to participate in a conference for the army chiefs of the countries participating in the Islamic anti-terror coalition, a Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army statement said.

The conference, which will be held in Riyadh from March 26 to 28, will discuss the challenges that face the coalition.

AMMAN — Royal Court Secretary General Yousef Issawi, who heads a committee entrusted with following up on Royal initiatives, visited Madaba on Saturday and checked on the services offered at a number of projects previously implemented under Royal directives.

Issawi visited schools, a community centre, the We Are All Jordan Youth Commission branch and a garment factory, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The official was briefed on the services offered at these initiatives for the people of Madaba Governorate.

AMMAN — Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury has signed cooperation agreements with the directors of the Jordan River Foundation and Noor Al Hussein Foundation, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Saturday.

The agreements follow up on the projects implemented by the two foundations within the third phase of the programme to empower residents of poverty pockets.

The follow-up aims at improving the living and economic conditions of underprivileged segments in poor areas and increasing their productivity, according to Fakhoury. 

AMMAN — Members of the Jordan Artists Association on Friday re-elected Sari Asaad as their president.

Asaad received 181 votes, compared with Hussein Khatib’s 155 votes in the second round.

A third candidate, Shaher Hadid, failed to reach the second round, according to local media outlets.

AMMAN — The Development and Employment Fund (DEF) said on Saturday that its win in this year’s King Abdullah II Awards for Excellence in the public sector is an incentive to continue working to promote self-employment and combat unemployment.

A DEF statement quoted the fund’s director, Abdallah Freij, as saying that the recognition is a message of support to all those who work in the service of Jordan.

AMMAN — Local and international organisations on Saturday met with government officials to discuss a two-year comprehensive national plan on human rights, which the government sees as a roadmap created through a participatory approach.

“Our first of many meetings today is to connect with the local and international organisations to hear their points of view about the plan and any other points to be included in it,” said the government’s coordinator on human rights, Basil Tarawneh.

Tarawneh added that the meeting was aimed to explore the potential for any organisation that would like to be part of the follow-up entity on the implementation of the plan.

Dozens of activists, human rights officials, diplomats and members of the committee that drafted the national plan attended the meeting, held in cooperation with the National Democratic Institute and USAID.

“We want to explore the best means to implement the plan with our partners in civil society, and at the same time take into consideration any changes that could occur over the next two years to work smartly and with flexibility,” Tarawneh added.

The plan was created in accordance with sources that included Sharia (Islamic law), the Constitution, international and regional conventions, and remarks presented by the National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR).

The plan has primary and secondary goals whose achievement will be measured through a set of activities and indicators, and the committee will be reviewing the strategy on a regular basis.

The government — which drafted the plan in cooperation with the NCHR, civil society institutions and professional associations — will implement it through its concerned departments and civil society institutions.

Tarawneh explained that the plan includes a vision of a society based on justice and protecting human rights and dignity.

The plan focuses on civil and political rights such as the right of life and physical safety; ensuring the independence of the judiciary and fair trials; the right of citizenship, residency and freedom of mobility; and enhancing the freedom of speech and expression; and the rights of assembly and forming political parties, unions and societies.

On the economic, social and cultural rights, the comprehensive plan stressed the need to protect the rights to work, healthcare and education.

The third aspect is protecting the rights of vulnerable groups.

Officials from various ministries and other entities, such as the Public Security Department, stressed during the meeting that they have already distributed the plan to their personnel for use in their work.

During the meeting, some civil society organisations voiced their objections to accusations of “being Western agents”.

“We always hear accusations that we are working with Western agencies, but no one says anything when the government works with them, and — at the same time — the government stays silent over the accusations against us,” charged Nidal Mansour, president of the Centre for Defending Freedom of Journalists. 

Other activists charged that the government is tightening its grip on civil society with claims that these organisations “should obtain permission before holding any activity — a practice that did not exist in the past”.

Tarawneh stressed at the end of the two-hour meeting that the government will “continue to adopt transparency in dealing with human rights issues through true partnership with civil society to address negative aspects”.

Earlier this month, His Majesty King Abdullah received the plan from the government and expressed his keenness to protect and enhance human rights in Jordan, stressing the significance of implementing the plan according to the set timeline.

King Abdullah pointed out that the plan and its objectives are part of the national comprehensive reform process, urging those in charge of implementation to build on previous achievements in terms of citizen empowerment and safeguarding public rights and freedoms.

AMMAN — Leaders of the National Building Initiative (Zamzam) on Saturday organised a public meeting to showcase the founding principles of the political party they are about to launch.

The founding leaders brainstormed with their supporters over a set of principles and administrative measures, including the name of the party; its by-law, committees and headquarters.

Leaders of the initiative said the projected political party will be civil, nonaligned, inclusive and of purely national goals resting on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. 

General coordinator of the movement Rheil Gharaibeh stressed the need for a profound revision of the local, regional and international developments, explaining that the current challenges require "wisdom" and "prudence".

"We are in dire need for consensus, away from the persisting religious, ethnic and exclusivist ideology," he said.

Gharaibeh added that founders of Zamzam are working on establishing a political party "flexible and capable of attracting people of experience, beyond from religious, ideological, geographical, tribal and political alliances". 

The Zamzam initiative was launched in 2012 by moderate Islamists from the Muslim Brotherhood and other political figures, who made proposals to address the challenges facing the Kingdom.

The Brotherhood rejected the move, which was seen as a sign of disarray within its ranks.

The Muslim Brotherhood later expelled three leading members Gharaibeh, Nabil Kofahi and Jamil Dheisat over their involvement in the initiative.

AMMAN — An airplane of the Royal Jordanian Air Force will disperse on Sunday cloud seeding agents over the King Talal Dam's catchment area as part of the Kingdom's first experiment in artificial rainmaking, a government official said Saturday.

A test for the experiment was conducted on Saturday, according to Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) Director Mohammad Samawi, who noted that certain weather conditions are sought after when carrying out artificial rain experiments.

"… Such weather conditions include certain levels of humidity and water vapour, among other factors. After analysing weather charts, we decided to carry out the experiment in this period, during which there will be clouds that are not likely to produce rain," Samawi told The Jordan Times.

Artificial rainfall entails attempting to induce or increase precipitation.

According to the clouds' different physical properties, this can be done using airplanes or rockets to sow the clouds with catalysts such as dry ice, silver iodide and salt powder to increase precipitation, according to web sources.

In Jordan, the JMD is planning to use two groups of seeding agents depending on whether a cloud is cold or warm, including calcium chloride and compressed carbon dioxide as freezing agents, and a compound of urea and ammonium nitrate for the absorption of moisture.

The experiment will be conducted after Jordan and Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding on March 23 to benefit from the East Asian country's experience in rainmaking technology.

"The amount of rain produced from artificial rainmaking cannot be determined immediately. It takes over a year and comparing data from previous wet seasons; however, artificial rainmaking can increase precipitation by 10-20 per cent," Samawi said. 

He highlighted that using artificial rainmaking techniques seeks to raise the amount of precipitation in Jordan, 90 per cent of which receives an average of 20-200 millimetres of rain per year, adding that increasing precipitation will raise dam storage, expand the country's green cover and boost natural pastures.

Jordan tried making artificial rain on its own between 1989 and 1995, but the experiment failed as the airplane and equipment used for this purpose stopped functioning, and the project faced several challenges.

The Thai technology was developed in 1969 by King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand who holds an international patent on the rainmaking method, which involves introducing certain chemicals in cloudy areas to “seed” the clouds with increased moisture that would eventually result in precipitation.

In 2009, Jordan received permission from Thailand to use the technique.

Already a victim to climate change, Jordan will witness a 15-60 per cent decrease in precipitation and a 1-4°C increase in temperatures, which will in turn have serious potential impacts on its natural ecosystems, river basins, watersheds and biodiversity, as the 2013-2020 Jordan Climate Change Policy has suggested.

Climate change over the past two decades has also caused a drastic drop in rainfall and prolonged dry spells in the Kingdom, according to a recent study issued by the Water Ministry.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Saturday met with a media delegation from the Federation of Arab Journalists and discussed Jordan’s perspectives on regional issues.

At a meeting attended by Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani, the premier said that despite the ongoing events in the region, Jordan is working to build a democratic state model. He noted that there are no journalists jailed for their opinions, and the government supports the freedom of the press.

Also on Saturday, the delegation visited the Border Guards command and had a firsthand look at the efforts of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army on the border and its humanitarian role in serving Syrian refugees, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The visit came on the sidelines of the federation’s freedom committee meeting in Amman and a symposium on “Media and terrorism” held by the Jordan Press Association.