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AMMAN — Steel prices have gone up by almost 25 per cent about over the past weeks despite a drop in demand by developers, with informed sources blaming the “unjustified” increase on “cartel activities” by local producers.

This steep rise threatens to drive construction and real estate prices to new highs, sources contacted by The Jordan Times on Tuesday warned.

The sources said the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply seems to be confused whether to take action or not, citing a statement by the ministry on Monday which said it would open the door for importing steel due to rising prices. But the ministry then backed off on the same day, asking media outlets to cancel or not publish the statement.  

The ministry went back on its decision because of pressure by producers, said the sources, who include a government official.

Steel prices over the past weeks went up from around JD375 a tonne to nearly JD475 per tonne. 

On Monday, the ministry said that it would allow imports of steel into the domestic market without any restrictions on quantities, as previously it used to restrict the quantity of steel imports to 3,000 tonnes per month.

The intended decision, it said, is aimed at boosting competition in the domestic market. 

The statement, which quoted Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Maha Ali, said prices in the local market were going up despite the decline in production costs and heavy fuel prices.

On Tuesday, Ali met with the Jordan Chamber of Industry and said that steel prices went up by JD100 a tonne over the past weeks, describing the hike as unjustified, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

Petra quoted the minister as saying that the ministry is currently in talks with industrialists to review the prices and production costs, and that it would take a decision related to allowing imports and their quantities accordingly. 

“Steel factories in Jordan are owned by influential people. Sometimes they practice pressure on decision makers,” said the official, who requested anonymity. 

Another source said that factories are cartelising in order to protect their margins, although demand for the product is weaker than what it used to be a year ago. 

Jordan Housing Developers Association President Fawaz Al Hassan told The Jordan Times that home builders are the biggest consumer of steel in Jordan, and the sector has seen a 15 per cent decline in activity.

“Steel factories in Jordan are owned by influential people, and the government cannot take a decision that may hurt their interests,” Hassan charged.

Replying to accusations, Ministry of Industry and Trade Spokesperson Yanal Barmawi said his ministry will take a decision to try to reverse the rise soon if the trend continues upwards.

He noted that the ministry will not relent under any pressure by any interest group.

Al Rai daily columnist Issam Qadamani wrote an article on what is going on in the steel market in Jordan, noting that there is a monopoly among distributors whom he accused of buying all the production of local manufacturers and raising the prices.

He told The Jordan Times that two major steel traders bought all local production and decided to raise prices by JD100.

The economist said the manufacturers pressured the minister into going back on the decision to allow unhindered imports. 

Qadamani said the government, a major consumer of steel, has not been floating new tenders, as it is struggling to pay delayed financial dues for contractors. 

The columnist accused steel factories of cartelising to raise prices in order to offset losses registered in previous years, calling on the government to open the import door to boost competition and bring prices down. 

There are around 12 steel factories in Jordan. 

The Jordan Times tried several times to contact the steel traders society or owners of steel factories to comment on the issue but to no avail.

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Tuesday called for supporting children affected by the Syrian conflict.

"The 3.7 million Syrian children born since the conflict began have known nothing but a lifetime of loss, violence and trauma. They don’t know where ‘home’ is," the Queen said in a post on her Facebook page on the fifth anniversary of the Syrian crisis. 

"More than half of Syria’s population has been displaced; 2.4 million Syrian children have been forced to flee their homes to neighbouring countries. Many have suffered lasting and irreparable damage to their bodies and minds," she added, noting that "the Syrian conflict continues to wreak havoc on its people, its country and our region".

The Queen said Syrian children need healthcare and education to secure a better future.

"On this heartbreaking anniversary, let’s pause to think about those whose lives have been uprooted and forever changed. And let us all find ways to support the children of this conflict — with healthcare to help them heal and with education to give them the hope for a better future," she added.

According to the 2015 census, around 1.3 million of the Kingdom's 9.5 million population are Syrians.

The majority of the Syrian refugees in the Kingdom are women and children, according to relief agencies.

AMMAN — Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) personnel have confiscated an oven, in which 38,000 narcotic pills were hidden, and investigation is still under way to arrest involved suspects, the Public Security Department (PSD) said Tuesday.

The AND agents received information that several suspects had prepared an amount of narcotics and hidden them in an oven they were going to send as a package through a shipping office to another country, according to a PSD statement. 

The personnel found the oven at the office with the drugs hidden inside.

In recent incidents, smugglers have resorted to using sheep, car tyres, biscuit packets, packages of sweets, olives, large marble blocks, door closers, book covers and children’s beds to hide illegal narcotics.

Several cases have also involved suspects smuggling drugs in their stomachs.

In previous remarks to The Jordan Times, an AND official said the Syrian conflict, the refugee crisis and turmoil in surrounding countries are to blame for the new illicit drug smuggling methods the Kingdom has been witnessing over the past four years.

In the first half of February this year, AND agents arrested 226 suspected drug dealers in 129 cases, confiscating 39kg of hashish, 21kg of synthetic cannabis (locally known as “joker”), 11,000 narcotic pills, 1kg of heroin and eight weapons, according to the PSD.

Last year, AND personnel arrested 14,000 drug users from different nationalities, AND Director Brig. Gen. Anwar Tarawneh said late last month.

Tarawneh noted that Jordan remains a corridor country — rather than a destination — for drug smuggling.

AMMAN — The Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) expressed dismay on Tuesday over a "last minute" development that forced it to postpone its pension fund commission meeting.

The commission was scheduled to meet at Al Hussein Youth City's Cultural Palace on Wednesday to discuss proposed changes to retirement regulations, having obtained the required official approvals, but the facility's administration claimed it could not host the meeting due to "a power outage", Anas Abu Khdeir, JEA media coordinator, told The Jordan Times.

The JEA offered to fix the electrical malfunction in cooperation with the electricity company but the palace's administration refused, Khdeir said.

He added that the association contacted the company to inquire about the problem, but it replied that no one had reported any malfunction and that the power supply to the Cultural Palace has not been disrupted. 

In a statement, the JEA held accountable every official party that hindered holding the meeting and JEA President Majid Tabba said the new date and location for the meeting will be announced later. 

Officials at the Cultural Palace were not available for comment despite several attempts by The Jordan Times.

In remarks in January, Tabba dismissed claims that the pension fund has failed.

The syndicate released the findings of an actuarial study which revealed that the fund reached a break-even point of equal pension subscriptions and pensions in 2014 instead of the expected year of 2017.

The fund will also reach a second break-even point — where pension subscriptions and investment profits would equal its expenditure — in 2019 instead of 2021.

The study expected a third break-even point — where the total revenues would be equal to total expenditures — to be reached in 2028 instead of 2031.

Earlier in February, Tabba said the JEA council has proposed a gradual increase in pension fund subscription fees as of 2018 and over a three-year period, but said no measures will be taken to raise the pension age.

The proposal aims at pushing the second and third break-even points from 2019 to 2035 and from 2028 to 2046 respectively, according to the president of the JEA, which includes some 130,000 members.

At the time, several members of the JEA organised a protest in front of the Professional Associations Complex to protest moves by the JEA to raise pension premiums.

AMMAN — The Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) has started expansion work on its passenger terminal, which receives visitors and goods from North Africa, an official said on Tuesday.

The south Aqaba terminal serves as an arrival and departure point for Egyptian labourers and pilgrims coming from North Africa en route to Saudi Arabia, according to the ADC official, who preferred to remain unnamed.

In addition, the terminal also receives cargo from Egypt and other North African countries, and is also an exporting station for several of the Kingdom's goods and agricultural produce, the official noted.

The expansion work on the station seeks to accommodate the increasing trade movement between Jordan, Egypt and other North African nations, the official said, adding that the expansion will provide extra space for the increasing number of visitors and the booming trade movement via the Nweibeh-Aqaba route.

Under the expansion project of the passenger terminal, an additional 3,500 square metres of facilities, halls and lots will be established to separate arrivals from departures, while separate facilities located 800 metres away from the terminal will be established for pilgrims.

Separate facilities will be established for pilgrims to reduce overcrowding at the terminal and to provide pilgrims with the services they need, the official said, noting that parking lots will be established to accommodate 180 buses.

The passengers and cargo terminal expansion is scheduled to be completed within six months, the official added, noting that the separate facilities for pilgrims will be completed by the start of the fasting month of Ramadan, expected to start in June, when many pilgrims arrive to the country from North Africa en route to Saudi Arabia to perform umra (the lesser Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.)

"The cost of the expansion project is JD4.5 million, which will be covered by the budget of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority," the official told The Jordan Times, highlighting that the south Aqaba passenger terminal is Jordan's second important port terminal following the Aqaba Container Terminal. 

AMMAN — The Higher Education Council decided on Tuesday not to renew Ekhleif Tarawneh's presidency of the University of Jordan (UJ) for a second term. 

Tarawneh confirmed the news to The Jordan Times late Tuesday without giving further comment.

Local media outlets reported that UJ's board of trustees had recommended that the Higher Education Council approve a second term for the UJ president.

UJ students have been protesting a decision by their university's administration to raise tuition fees for the parallel and post-graduate programmes.

Students started protesting on February 28, demanding the reversal of the decision, taken in 2014, raising the fees for the parallel and post-graduate programmes by 100 to 180 per cent.

Tarawneh emphasised at a recent press conference that the reversal of the decision is not the responsibility of the president, and that the board of trustees, which consists of 12 members, is the authority that can change or reverse the decision.

Following up on the protest, Tarawneh wrote on his Facebook page that he will start working on phasing out the parallel programme, describing UJ as "the umbrella for many Jordanians and to others who saw it as a path to accomplish their dreams".

The parallel programme is allocated for students whose General Secondary Education Certificate Examination scores do not qualify them to study specific subjects at public universities through the regular programme.

Tuition fees for this programme are higher than regular programmes. 

AMMAN — A 23-year-old man was shot and killed during a brawl in Zarqa's Duleil town late Monday night, official sources said on Tuesday.

The victim, who was not identified, was shot during a brawl over pigeons in the neighbourhood, a senior official source said.

"Two groups of youth started arguing about some pigeons, and the argument became heated and turned into a major brawl that involved guns and sharp objects," the official source told The Jordan Times.

Gendarmerie forces were called in and the situation was contained, but some people were injured, the source added.

The victim was taken to Prince Feisal Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival, a medical source said.

A team of pathologists headed by Ibrahim Obeidat performed an autopsy on and concluded that the victim died of a single bullet wound to the heart.

"The bullet entered the victim's chest, penetrated his heart and exited from his back," the medical source said.

A judicial source confirmed the incident, saying that several suspects were rounded up for questioning. 

Public Security Department Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said several suspects were arrested and an investigation is under way.

AMMAN — The army said on Tuesday that Border Guards received 100 Syrian refugees during the previous 24 hours.

The troops transferred the refugees to shelters and camps, and Royal Medical Services personnel treated the injured, according to an army statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

AMMAN — The Jordan Media Institute (JMI) on Monday celebrated signing the book “Transition Towards Modernity in News Editing: Research and Implementation”, by Jan Karam. The ceremony was held under the patronage of HRH Princess Rym Ali, the founder of the institute, a JMI statement said on Tuesday.

JMI Dean Basim Tweissi said the work is part of the JMI’s programme for authorship and publication, launched out of a need to develop scientific media research in Jordan and the world. 

AMMAN — President of Poland Andrzej Duda on Tuesday awarded the 1st class Polish Order of Merit to HRH Prince Hassan, for his efforts in supporting and enhancing dialogue among cultures and followers of different religions, as well as enhancing bilateral relations.

Deputising for Duda, head of the National Security Bureau in Poland Paweł Soloch presented the medal to Prince Hassan in Amman. The prince voiced his appreciation of this honour.