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AMMAN — The Cabinet on Sunday decided to supply national industries with natural gas to enable them to generate energy at a low cost and enhance their competitiveness, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The Council of Ministers tasked a steering committee with studying the decision's implementation and identifying priorities in providing gas based on available infrastructure at the targeted factories, according to Petra.

The agency quoted Energy Minister Ibrahim Saif as saying that the plants requiring natural gas will be connected to the network of the Jordanian Egyptian FAJR Company, which is responsible for transporting natural gas.

The decision, he said, entails enabling the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO), the main operator of the Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Terminal in Aqaba where natural gas is imported, to sell the surplus of gas through FAJR company to local plants.

Saif said this move is "important" because over 10 local plants have submitted requests to the ministry to switch from heavy fuel oil to natural gas.

With Jordan now receiving a steady supply of the gas, it is now possible to utilise the surplus after covering NEPCO's needs to serve other industries, the minister added.

Petra quoted him as saying that the ministry will now start taking the necessary measures to extend pipelines from FAJR's main line to supply local factories.

In July 2015, His Majesty King Abdullah inaugurated the Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Terminal in Aqaba, 330km south of Amman, used to pump liquefied natural gas to electricity-generating stations across the Kingdom.

In December last year, Aqaba Development Corporation CEO Ghassan Ghanem said using natural gas rather than crude oil to generate electricity not only saves the government millions of dinars, but it is also better for the environment.

At a meeting with reporters, he said that almost 60 per cent of the gas that Jordan imports comes from Nigeria, while 30 per cent comes from South America and 10 per cent from Qatar.

AMMAN — Authorities on Sunday said the cause of death of four Yemeni nationals on Saturday was attributed “most probably” to carbon monoxide poisoning at their home in Yasmine suburb.

The officials findings come a day after dozens of media outlets and some officials reported that four of the seven family members had died of apparent food poisoning.

Two family members and two Asian domestic helpers were rushed to hospital in critical condition, officials have said.

Public Security Department Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi confirmed on Sunday that foul play and food poisoning were ruled out.

“Our investigations and the crime lab samples taken from the victims who were being treated at hospital confirmed that they suffered poisoning as a result of inhaling carbon monoxide,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

Head of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine Kais Koussous, who performed the autopsy with three government pathologists on Saturday, confirmed that it was “a typical carbon monoxide poisoning case”.

“We did not find any signs of struggle or bruises on the four victims’ bodies, and from my experience it is poisoning from carbon monoxide inhalation,” Koussous told The Jordan Times.

But he added that samples were sent to the crime lab “for further examinations”.

Meanwhile, an official source told The Jordan Times that “no bacteria or viruses were found in the food that the family consumed on the day of the incident.”

“The food was examined and it was found to be safe,” the official said over the phone.

The Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted Al Hayat Hospital Director Kayed Halaiqa on Saturday as saying that the deceased were two children, three and five years old, the mother and the grandfather.

Those injured from the family are eight and 13 years old, said the director of the hospital, noting that they are in critical condition, while the two others are in fair condition.

A Public Security Department statement indicated that a high-level committee was formed to investigate the incident and concluded that “the apartment’s kitchen is supported by gas pipelines placed in one of the kitchen’s cabinets”.

Some media reports carried by local websites said the family and the domestic helpers were poisoned after consuming food from a "famous restaurant" in Amman.

Raed Hamada, president of the Jordan Association for Restaurants and Sweets Shops Owners, criticised the local media “for their hasty reporting” because it reflects negatively on the industry and “because there is nothing called someone dying of food poisoning”.

“It is very rare to hear of a case of someone dying of food poisoning.  People could get sick and could vomit or suffer from diarrhoea, but not die,” Hamada told The Jordan Times.

He stressed that the restaurant sector in Jordan “is considered one of the best when it comes to food safety and hygiene”.

According to a Time magazine online edition report citing 2010 World Health Organisation figures, the latest global data available, 351,000 people die of food poisoning every year, including 52,000 deaths caused by Salmonella and 37,000 deaths caused by E. coli bacteria.

AMMAN — Jordan on Monday marks the 48th anniversary of the Karameh Battle. On March 21, 1968, Jordanian soldiers repelled an Israeli attack on the small town in the Jordan Valley, whose name means “dignity”.

Several Jordanian soldiers lost their lives in the battle, while the Israeli raid was repelled with heavy losses as the Jordanian army launched an artillery barrage against Israeli tanks.

His Majesty King Abdullah and HRH Crown Prince Hussein on Sunday received several cables of congratulations from senior officials and officers on the occasion, a Royal Court statement said.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday sent a cable to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, a Royal Court statement said. The King expressed his best wishes to the Iranian people.

Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year in the Persian calendar.

AMMAN – A man in his 40s died in a road accident in Zarqa on Sunday, a Civil Defence Department (CDD) statement said. Also on Sunday, five people were injured in a road accident in west Amman.

CDD personnel administered first aid and took them to Prince Hamzah Hospital, where they were listed in fair condition.

In Ramtha, four people were injured in a car accident. CDD cadres took them to Ramtha Hospital, where they were reported to be in fair condition.

Meanwhile, three people suffered shortness of breath in a fire caused by a gas leak in a restaurant in west Amman. CDD cadres extinguished the fire and took the injured to Al Bashir Hospital, where they were listed in fair condition.

AMMAN — Leaders of two influential world organisations are due in Jordan before the end of this month to communicate the international community’s commitment to supporting the Kingdom and other countries of the region as they cope with the consequences of conflict and instability.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will visit Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia from March 24 to 28, said a World Bank statement sent to The Jordan Times on Saturday.

The statement added that the two leaders will be also joined by the President of the Islamic Development Bank Group Mohammed Ali Al Madani in their visit to Lebanon. 

“The joint visit aims to communicate the international community’s commitment to support the region as it copes with the consequences of conflict and instability, and to strengthen the growing partnerships between the organisations,” the statement said.

During their visit to Jordan that hosts more than 1.2 million Syrian refugees, Kim and Ki-moon will visit refugees and hosting communities. “The visit will also focus on addressing widespread youth unemployment through improving the quality and relevance of education, and promoting economic empowerment and opportunities,” according to the World Bank.

The visit also comes ahead of the International Conference for the new Financing Initiative to support the MENA region which will take place next month, a follow up on Lima 2015 announcement where the three institutions announced a new Financing Initiative to support the MENA region.

The April event will be co-chaired by Kim, Ki-moon and Al Madani – ministers from G7, Gulf Cooperation Council and broader European countries, as well as the heads of various international and regional organisations, where they will gather at the World Bank Group headquarters to pledge their support for the new Financing Initiative to support the MENA region.

In a meeting in Lima last October, the three leaders announced a joint initiative to scale-up financing in the MENA region to help countries hosting significant refugee populations, countries impacted by conflict, as well as countries that have significant investment needs to achieve economic recovery.

A separate World Bank document on this initiative sent to The Jordan Times said “Financing Initiative is now gathering steam”. 

Over 50 countries and organisations participated and agreed to finalise the design of the innovative financing initiative in 2016. 

The proposed financing initiative consists of two distinct mechanisms to support countries impacted by conflict and economic slowdown, as well as those affected by large numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons.

Under the first mechanism, guarantees from donor countries would be leveraged in order to issue special bonds, including sukuk or Islamic bonds, to finance economic recovery and reconstruction projects.

In the second mechanism, grants from donor countries would be used to provide concessional finance to middle-income countries of the region hosting the bulk of refugees.

“This initiative will create a unique platform among multilateral development banks and the UN to strengthen coordination on development assistance to the region at this critical juncture,” according to a World Bank statement.

It added that at the Supporting Syria and the Region conference that took place in February in London, the World Bank Group announced that it will triple its investments in the region as compared to the previous five years. 

“Funding from the new Financing Initiative to support the MENA region combined with current programmes is expected to total about $20 billion over the coming five years. Furthermore, the new Financing Initiative to support the MENA region aims to raise $1 billion in grants from donors over the next five years, which will be leveraged to provide $3 billion to $4 billion in highly concessional loans for Jordan and Lebanon.” 

In addition, in response to the current crisis, the World Bank Board of Directors have taken the extraordinary measure of approving $200 million in direct concessional financing to create jobs and increase access to education in Jordan and Lebanon.

Last month, executive directors from the World Bank Group visited the Kingdom as part of a regional tour that also includes Lebanon, to witness first-hand the scale and acuteness of the refugee crisis in these countries, and to explore with stakeholders the needs and priorities of the refugees as well as the hosting communities.

The board, which represents over 62 countries and close to 46 per cent of the voting power of the World Bank spent two days looking very closely at what the regional situation has been and to what extent it is negatively impacting government services and host communities.

At a press conference following that visit, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury said Jordan is currently negotiating with the World Bank over a $500 million loan for the year 2016 under new and simplified terms Jordan had previously not been entitled to due to its ranking as an upper-middle-income country.

Fakhoury said such concessional loans are usually given with an interest rate of less than 3 per cent, and “we are negotiating with the World Bank to obtain these loans at 1 per cent interest and a longer grace period”.

Jordan secured the waiver during the refugee donor meeting in London on February 4, where officials negotiated for easy lending and grants to shift international response to the Syrian refugee crisis from an emergency and relief mode to a sustainable development mode. 

AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury has said that three out of the four outcomes of His Majesty King Abdullah’s visit to Brussels “had to do directly with the needs of Jordanians”.

In an interview with the Jordan TV (JTV) talk show Sixty Minutes, aired Friday night, the minister underlined the increase in EU assistance granted to Jordan, the launch of the new EU-Jordan negotiations on the new association agreement for the next four years and the simplified rules of origin, a key goal sought in the partnership with Europe.

The fourth deal was with NATO, which agreed to expand military support to Jordan through capacity-building programmes.

Fakhoury explained that negotiations on the new association agreement paves the way for the new development programme between Jordan and the EU, which focusses, among other goals, on economic empowerment of women and youth.

Fakhoury said: "The timing of the visit was very apt as part of the follow-up process on the outcomes of the London  conference. The visit followed up the implementation of EU commitments to Jordan in the conference."

"When we talk about the rules of origin …, the key target is to enhance Jordan's ability to attract new investments that generate new job opportunities to Jordanian youth and increase exports that strengthen the role of the private sector, which is the key engine of growth,” Fakhoury added. 

Fakhoury stressed that the free trade agreement with the EU is the backbone of the association agreement. Therefore, he added, Jordan’s approach in London conference regarding the burdens that it bears focussed on reviewing the rules of origin with the EU. 

“We managed to achieve this, just as we succeeded in all free trade agreements with Arab countries, Turkey, Canada and the USA. This will lead in increasing our exports and, based on these deals, additional investments will be attracted.”

In this context, he said, Jordan secured the union’s consent to simplify the rules of origin for 10 years. This is exceptionally given to Jordan and will eventually enable Jordanian products to have more than 70 per cent of production inputs from outside Jordan. 

This is extremely important, he said, as it will enable existing industries that want to take advantage of this system, or new investments in new industries and sectors, to benefit from the privileges made available and start exporting to EU countries. 

Fakhoury said that in partnership with the local private sector, the government began to identify the sectors and goods in industrial zones and development zones which will be chosen in this endeavour to simplify the rules of origin. 

“We tried to expand it to cover the biggest number of industrial and development zones in the Kingdom,” the minister told JTV.

Work on all Brussels agreements has already started in the Jordanian side, Fakhoury noted, explaining that concerned ministries began to work within a supervisory ministerial committee headed by the prime minister and technical committees. 

“There will be periodical and weekly meetings to follow up on the implementation of what we managed to achieve in Brussels, thanks to His Majesty’s efforts at London conference.”

AMMAN — Around 4.4 million Jordanians are eligible to vote in the coming parliamentary elections, of whom 1.6 million reside in the capital, according to a government official. 

At a round-table discussion with political parties' secretaries general, Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs Khaled Kalaldeh noted that the latest census showed that 42 per cent of Jordanians are below 18, making them ineligible to vote.

Participants at the gathering, the first to be held with the minister since the endorsement of the political parties and elections law, voiced their concerns and expectations prior to the parliamentary elections.

They voiced their doubts over the ability of the Elections Law to produce a politicised Parliament, stressing the need for the government to put its hands with the political parties to develop Jordan's political life.

“The problem lays in the way parties are dealt with. The government should listen to us and our perspectives on the developments taking place in the country, whether at the political or security departments,” said Abdul Majeed Dandees, secretary general of the National Populist Party.

Funding and students’ participation in parties were also among the main concerns of political parties, whose representatives criticised the funding mechanism of parties and universities’ “discouraging” atmosphere towards pupils’ political participation. 

Kalaldeh underlined the importance of raising the public awareness on the Elections Law and its procedures, saying that the by-law on the funding of elections law will be endorsed this week. 

“I know that the by-law is less than anticipated, but it has bright sides, such as extending JD5,000 for every party after opening the fifth headquarter and JD2,000 for every MP who wins a seat in the elections,” noted the minister.

On the other hand, participants agreed on the need to create momentum for the coming elections through the media.

Kalaldeh noted that the ministry is cooperating with the Independent Elections Commission to acquaint the public with the Elections Law and encourage more voters.

AMMAN — Jordan on Saturday condemned the terrorist blast in Istanbul, which left five dead and dozens others injured.

In a cable to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, His Majesty King Abdullah expressed his condolences over the death of the victims, a Royal Court statement said. 

The King also condemned the terrorist blast and wished the injured a speedy recovery. 

Government Spokesperson Mohammad Momani expressed Jordan's rejection and condemnation of the incident, which targeted innocent civilians, voicing the government's solidarity with Turkey in confronting terrorism, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Momani, who is also minister of state for media affairs and communications, expressed the government's condolences to the families of the victims and its wishes for a speedy recovery for the injured, Petra added. 

He also called on all countries around the world to unite in the face of terrorism, renewing Jordan's stance that shuns all types of violence and terrorism.

AMMAN — Retired Major Najwa Momani travels 140km every day on the Zarqa-Azraq road to patrol the streets of the Zaatari Refugee Camp to maintain the well-being of its residents.

The mother of two served at the Public Security Department (PSD) for 27 years at the traffic, the correctional and rehabilitation departments, as well as at peacekeeping missions and retired in 2014.

In late 2015, she learned about the Community Police Assistant Programme (CPAP) for PSD retirees, which aims to provide security for Syrian refugees and support Jordan’s resilience in the face of the Syrian crisis.

“I immediately applied for the programme because I served with Jordan’s peacekeeping missions in Darfour and South Sudan, and I knew that I had the necessary experience to do it,” Momani told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

The mother of two children said her mission was to give lectures, patrol camps in Sudan and help the community “and this is what CPAP was all about, so I immediately applied and I was accepted I believe because of my experience”.

Momani was one of 44 PSD retirees that were chosen from over 800 applicants to serve in the refugee camps in Jordan, as part of the CPAP project that is supported by the British embassy Policing Support Team (PST) in cooperation with the Netherlands embassy and the PSD.

The organisers will look into hundreds of applicantions to recruit the remaining 40 retired PSD personnel by this week to be trained and deployed as Community Police Assistants or CPAs. 

 “My work at Zaatari entails patrolling the streets, checking on people and the needy, and connect anyone who wants to reach the police or the relevant organisations that are in the camp to assist them,” Momani explained.

One case in specific, Momani maintained, was a physically-challenged woman who delivered a baby and had no means of “providing the newborn with medical attention or food, so I immediately wrote a report and she was immediately helped by the relevant organisations.” 

“I feel happy and content when I know that I am able to help a weak person who is in need and cannot have his/her voice heard. I want to be their voice,” Momani said.

Retired Major Mazin Jariry who served for 20 years at the PSD in the legal and investigation departments, was one of the chosen applicants in December and is currently serving as assistant coordinator of the community police at Azraq camp.

“I take my work very seriously and our job also entails giving moral support for the refugee community by attending their events and receiving complaints,” Jariry told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

Jariry said the key to success in his mission is gaining the trust of the refugees and the 55 organisations working there and “linking them together while ensuring safety and security for all”.

Like his colleague Momani, Jariry, who drives 250 kilometres daily to reach the camp, said he took part in peaceful international missions in Kosovo and Bosnia “and these experiences were a bonus for me when I applied for this job”.

“I believe that what I am doing is strictly humanitarian.  I am helping people and feel that I am part of the solution to this international conflict,” Jariry said.

The CPAs support the community police in Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps to serve the community by conducting foot patrols and taking reports of cases for follow up by the police and humanitarian organisations, said Alice Crabtree, the project coordinator of the British embassy PST.

“The reason why we recruit retired Jordanian PSD personnel is because they have a very rich and diverse experience in peacekeeping missions, which they can apply in the camps with the right approach to assist Syrian refugees and make them feel safer,” Crabtree told The Jordan Times in a recent interview. 

Crabtree added that retired PSD personnel provide a wealth of experience across a broad range of policing fields, ranging from family protection, traffic safety and even environmental rangers as well as “their humanitarian outlook and willingness to serve the Syrian community in Jordan regardless of their previous ranks”. 

“The CPA project started in November 2015 and will continue until May/June 2017 when this last cohort that we are recruiting now has finished their contract year.  We are hoping to sustain the programme in the future through other donors,” the embassy official said.

The British embassy PST has been working with the PSD’s Syrian Refugee Affairs Directorate (SRAD) since 2013 to train SRAD personnel in the ethos of community policing, problem solving and communication skills as well as human rights and the rights of the refugees, according to Crabtree. 

The CPAP builds on the work of the PSD’s SRAD to implement and expand community policing in Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps, according to a press release by the British embassy. 

With the help of the British embassy, three community police stations have been constructed, a custom-built mobile police station has been deployed, 36 community police officers and 45 CPAs have been trained since 2013, the press release said. 

In a survey carried out in Zaatari camp in February 2015, 74 per cent of respondents felt that the introduction of community police had made the camp a safer place, the press release stated.