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AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) has started implementing what officials describe as “traffic solutions” to curb gridlocks in the capital.

Ayman Smadi, executive director of the transport and traffic department at GAM, said on Monday that the municipality has started installing traffic lights in different locations in the capital. 

“We set up three traffic lights on Al al Bayt, Al Shaab and Wasfi Al Tal streets and around 12 traffic lights will be installed this year,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

The municipality official said Amman is expected to receive a great number of visitors this summer, and GAM is planning several projects to mitigate congestion with the increase in traffic.

“We hope to work on many of Amman’s streets, as the number of people, mainly from Gulf Arab countries, heading to the capital is expected to increase, especially with the situation in neighbouring countries,” Smadi added. 

He noted that projects will target the areas that witness the most traffic jams, such as Sweileh, Istiqlal Street, the Interior Ministry Circle and Shmeisani.

Visitors and Jordanian expatriates from Saudi Arabia have started coming to Jordan as the annual 10-day spring holiday in the Gulf kingdom continues through March 19.

An official at the Jordan Customs Department (JCD) told The Jordan Times in previous remarks that the agency is ready to receive “thousands” of vacationers coming from Saudi Arabia through the border crossings of Omari and Mudawarah.

The official, who requested anonymity, said hundreds of cars usually cross into Jordan from Saudi Arabia at this time of the year.

According to JCD figures, 195,226 cars entered Jordan from Saudi Arabia in June and July of last year through the Omari and Mudawarah border crossings. 

AMMAN — The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) prosecutor general on Monday ordered the detention of Azmi Nasrat and his brother Ismael pending investigation into alleged land sale fraud.

An ACC source told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that the two brothers were arrested on Sunday night in Amman’s Um Nuwara neighbourhood, adding that the investigation has also started with another merchant called Bahjat Hammadin who was apprehended at noon on Monday.

Azmi’s father and two other brothers, in addition to Ismael, along with other traders are detained pending further investigation into the case, Petra added.

Investigation is also under way with merchant Mabruk Shamasin and one of his brokers, Petra said, adding that more than JD42 million and 700 vehicles, as well as real estate and several plots of land have been retrieved in the case so far.

The ACC began investigating the issue last year based on a letter from the anti-money laundering unit and media reports on individuals who allegedly conned Wadi Musa residents into giving them substantial amounts of money to implement fraudulent investments.

Last year, several Wadi Musa residents who say they were conned by the suspects held protests to urge government action in the case.

AMMAN — The Central Traffic Department has embarked on a project to update motorists’ data and launch an SMS notification system for traffic tickets.

Maj. Jalal Rahahleh, director of public relations at the department, said on Monday that  the project will be implemented in cooperation with Zain Jordan and the Greater Amman Municipality.

He also said that the motorists’ data at the Driver and Motor Vehicle Licensing Department are being updated now ahead of launching the SMS traffic penalty notice.

Before launching the service, Rahahleh said all Zain subscribers will receive an SMS notifying them about the availability of a free of charge SMS traffic ticket notice system.

“If they answer ‘yes’ to the message, they will receive another SMS requesting the licence plate number of their cars,” he added.

He explained that the SMS notification of traffic tickets will be then launched once all Zain subscribers provide updated information about their cars.

“The SMS traffic penalty notice will contain the plate number of the car, in addition to the date and place of the violation,” Rahahleh told The Jordan Times. 

AMMAN — Six people were injured on Monday in a two-vehicle collision in Ramtha, according to a Civil Defence Department (CDD) statement.

CDD cadres took the injured to Ramtha Public Hospital where they were listed in fair condition.

Also on Monday, three people suffered food poisoning after eating rotten food and Maan CDD cadres administered first aid and took them to Maan Public Hospital where they were listed in fair condition. 

AMMAN — Justice Minister Bassam Talhouni on Monday discussed the importance of protecting intellectual property rights with Maj. Gen. Abdul Quddus Al Obaidly, chairman of the Emirates Strategic Planning Association and assistant commander for quality and excellence at Dubai police.

Talhouni said Jordanian laws keep up with the latest technological advancements when it comes to protecting intellectual property rights. Obaidly said the UAE delegation visiting Jordan aims at enhancing bilateral relations, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

AMMAN — The Jordan Media Commission and the Jordan Academy of Arabic on Monday signed an agreement to establish a local radio channel specialised in the Arabic language, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Commission Director General Amjad Qadi signed the agreement with the academy president, Khalid Karaki, Petra reported. On the sidelines of the signing ceremony, Qadi said establishing the radio channel aims at improving the Jordanian media product and its quality.

He said specialised radio channels form 20 per cent of the 39 licensed stations in Jordan. 

AMMAN — Jordan Chamber of Commerce (JCC) President Nael Kabariti on Monday voiced the private sector’s interest in enhancing economic relations with Mexico.

During a meeting with the deputy head of mission at the Mexican embassy, Abel Abarca Ayala, Kabariti welcomed the visit of a Mexican delegation scheduled in September, describing it as an important step to cement economic relations and increase the volume of commercial exchange.

Ayala voiced his country’s interest in increasing cooperation with Jordan through regular visits. 

AMMAN — The Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO) said on Monday it recently organised a training workshop titled “Gender Sensitive Value Chains”.

The workshop was launched after the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Women’s Economic Enabling Programme in the MENA region, which is implemented by German Development Cooperation (GIZ).

During the workshop, the importance of the steps of value chain analysis and how to develop them was underscored, the statement said. Members of both the public and private sectors took part in the workshop, in addition to JEDCO employees.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday met with Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi crown prince and deputy supreme commander of the UAE armed forces, and discussed bilateral ties and the latest regional developments.

At the Abu Dhabi meeting, King Abdullah and Sheikh Mohammad highlighted the "deep and brotherly" Jordanian-Emirati relations, expressing both countries' keenness to enhance them in a way that best serves the two peoples, according to a Royal Court statement. 

On the latest regional developments, they highlighted the significance of sustaining coordination and consultation between Jordan and the UAE, and responding to challenges facing the region, especially terrorism, within the context of a joint Arab action plan designed to boost the stability and security of the region and its peoples.

King Abdullah returned to the Kingdom later on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, His Majesty met with Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev as part of the Aqaba meetings that began on Saturday, another Royal Court statement said. 

King Abdullah on Saturday held separate meetings with Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

The meetings were part of a series of encounters held in January this year and April last year with leaders and representatives from around the world, including African countries, which were known as “Aqaba meetings” aimed at consolidating the global front against terrorism.

During the Aqaba meetings in January, the Monarch met with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

He discussed means to enhance consultation and coordination in counterterrorism efforts on the basis of a comprehensive approach that sees terrorism as a global threat not restricted to Syria and Iraq. 

During similar talks with senior US, Asian and Canadian officials as well as representatives of international organisations in January, His Majesty has also underlined the transborder nature of the danger of terrorist groups.

Moreover, the King has met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Tanzanian Foreign Minister Augustine Mahiga and senior officials from Kenya and Uganda.

AMMAN — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Jordan's economy to grow by 3.2 per cent this year, lower than the 3.7 per cent projected by the government. 

In an e-mail interview with The Jordan Times, IMF mission chief to Jordan, Kristina Kostial, said that assuming regional situation does not further deteriorate, economic activity in the Kingdom is expected to accelerate over the next two years, boosted by lower oil prices and a gradual recovery in investor’s confidence, adding that growth is projected to increase from 2.5 per cent in 2015 to 3.2 per cent in 2016 and 3.7 per cent in 2017.

For 2015, the IMF has previously expected the gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 2.9 per cent but due to slower economic activity in the first three quarters, which stood at 2.3 per cent, it was downgraded to 2.5 per cent. 

In its 2016 state budget law, the government projected the GDP to expand by 3.7 per cent in 2016 and 4.5 per cent in 2017.  

"Growth has indeed been weaker than expected and too low to make a dent in unemployment. This underperformance reflected significant external shocks over the past years,” she said.

She cited the difficulties and uncertainties associated with the regional conflicts, lower-than-expected public investment, and limited progress in structural reforms.

Kostial announced she has concluded her assignment on Jordan and would be replaced by Martin Cerisola as the new IMF mission chief.

The IMF official called for changes to the way the government works as an acceleration of structural reforms is needed to secure stronger and sustained growth, create jobs and improve Jordan’s competitiveness.

New cooperation 

The IMF and the government have recently started a second round of discussions over a new assistance programme to help the Kingdom implement medium-term structural reforms and to enable Jordan to benefit from the fund’s financing tools. 

The Extended Fund Facility (EFF) would focus on growth and job creation and improving the Kingdom’s business environment to be more attractive to investors, according to Kostial. 

The EFF is another programme Jordan is seeking to implement with the IMF after concluding the three-year Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) in August last year, which gave the Kingdom access to around $2 billion.  

Kostial said the mission to Jordan has continued dialogue with officials on macroeconomic policies and structural reforms that could be supported under the EFF, as well as on the financing that could be provided under such an arrangement. 

“This dialogue has been very productive with a follow-up visit to Amman soon. As part of this discussion, we will look into pledges made in the context of the recent donor conference in London, aimed at helping Jordan cope with the humanitarian needs of the refugee crisis, which have been weighing on Jordan’s economy,” she added.

‘SBA programme a success’

Commenting on views by some economists in Jordan that the SBA failed to achieve its goals, i.e., to reduce the budget deficit, increase revenues and address public debt, Kostial said given the starting position and subsequent shocks that Jordan experienced, the reform programme was successful in reducing Jordan’s vulnerabilities. 

Authorities delivered a large fiscal adjustment, supported by the decline in global oil price, made progress in the energy sector, especially fuel price reforms, and succeeded in restoring an adequate level of central bank reserves — in the face of significant regional shocks. 

Substantial adjustment was necessary given the debt and financing position and feasible in view of earlier fiscal slippages, Kostial said, noting that the composition of the adjustment could have been more skewed towards growth-and equity-enhancing revenue measures and there had been limited progress in implementing structural reforms to support growth. 

“Our preliminary estimates indicate that the 2015 budget deficit might have been higher than projected at the time of the SBA final review, reflecting primarily domestic revenue shortfalls, including lower oil-related taxes and excises, public enterprises surpluses and non-tax revenues.”

At the public sector level, this higher deficit is expected to have been partly offset by lower-than-projected operational losses by the state-owned electricity company, owing in part to the lower oil prices. As a result, public debt is expected to have exceeded the 90 per cent of the GDP projected under the SBA final review. 

Kostial said the IMF mission is going to discuss with authorities the causes for the revenue shortfalls in 2015 and their implications going forward.

‘Challenges not going soon’ 

Kostial said that significant challenges remain as public debt is high; growth has been insufficient to increase very low employment ratios; despite lower oil prices, the current account adjustment has been slower than expected; and the regional conflicts could durably affect trade, tourism and investment. 

“We at the IMF are looking to build on the success of the SBA and stand ready to assist the authorities in tackling these challenges,” she indicated.