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AMMAN — Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh on Monday stressed the importance of having the international community support countries hosting Syrian refugees, stressing that this is a shared responsibility, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

At a meeting with Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Rapporteur Annette Groth, Tarawneh said Jordan hosts Syrian refugees on behalf of the world despite its lack of resources.

He also reviewed the burdens the Kingdom shoulders and border security issues, which have magnified economic, social and security challenges. He also reviewed the situation in the region, especially in regard to Syria and Palestine, and thanked PACE members for accepting Jordan’s membership as a partner for democracy. Groth commended the Kingdom’s efforts in the region. 

AMMAN — Ninety MPs on Monday urged the government to speed up measures to increase the minimum wage from JD190 to JD240, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In a memorandum, the MPs urged Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh to contact the government on this issue.

AMMAN — The Kingdom’s 10 major dams now hold 60 per cent of their total capacity of 325 million cubic metres (mcm), a government official said Monday.

As of Monday morning, the dams held 191mcm, according to Jordan Valley Authority Secretary General Saad Abu Hammour.

“The storage levels at the dams are sufficient for this time of the year and higher than last year. The rainy season's performance is also good and we are hopeful for more rain as the wet season is still ongoing,” Abu Hammour told The Jordan Times over the phone.

During this time last year, the dams held 165.5mcm, according to figures from the Water Ministry, which also indicated that 71 per cent of the long term annual average of rainfall of 8 billion cubic metres has been achieved.

Dams are located across the Kingdom and include 10 major dams, more than 143 large ponds to collect floodwater in the desert and over 25 sand dams, according to the Water Ministry.

The Kingdom’s 10 major dams are: King Talal, Wadi Al Arab, Sharhabil, Kafrein, Wadi Shuaib, Karameh, Tannour, Waleh, Mujib and Wihdeh.

Although expensive to build, dams are vital for the Kingdom to secure its water needs, according to experts.

"A total of 5mcm went into the country's dams between Saturday and Monday morning," Abu Hammour said, noting that the dams in the southern region did not receive any additional storage.

A cold air mass affected the country on Saturday, bringing heavy rain and hail, according to the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD), which said that the impact of the cold air mass ended on Monday morning.

Temperatures on Tuesday are expected to rise back to their annual average of 13ºC for this time of the year, according to the JMD website, which indicated that the weather will be relatively cold across the country and fair in the Jordan Valley and Aqaba.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the weather will remain relatively cold, but fair in the Jordan Valley and Aqaba, the JMD said, adding that temperatures will range between a high of 12ºC and a low of 4ºC-5ºC in Amman.

AMMAN — Jordanians looking for jobs, training programmes, voluntary activities or seeking to become entrepreneurs will be able to access these opportunities through one national platform, which will be launched soon by the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD). 

Under the forus.jo platform, which will be launched in cooperation with the Labour Ministry and several stakeholders, Jordanians can look for online or offline training opportunities, receive career counselling services, find information on how to start their own businesses, and access services, KAFD Director Saeb Al Hassan told The Jordan Times in an interview on Monday.

The platform is expected to be launched in the second quarter of this year and seeks to function as an umbrella for all initiatives in this regard, he noted.

“Individuals and institutions can benefit from the platform. If someone is looking for a job or seeking to volunteer, he or she can create a profile on the platform and look for opportunities based on his/her needs. At the same time, institutions can look for individuals who possess the skills they need,” the KAFD director said.

“We reached agreements with several recruitment agencies and initiatives involved in voluntary work or support for entrepreneurs... For example, Bayt.com will post jobs available in the country through the platform and when an individual clicks on an available opportunity, he or she will be redirected to Bayt.com. This will apply to all partners in the project,” he explained.

“Our objective is to coordinate the work and for young Jordanians to find all that they need or look for in one place,” Hassan added.

Tutorials on how to start your own business, how to perform well in a job interview, how to write your own CV and other online training courses will be available via the platform, he noted.

“We will launch the platform based on our keenness and belief that coordinated and organised efforts can lead to the best results, so the work is more systematic and it is more convenient for individuals and institutions to find what they are looking for in one platform.”

To promote the platform, the fund has already conducted several campaigns in various universities and will soon embark on campaigns to educate the public, especially young people who can benefit from the national portal, the KAFD director said. 

Established by a Royal Decree in 2001 as a non-governmental organisation, KAFD seeks to support the Jordanian community by driving human and infrastructure development, according to its website. 

AMMAN — Though born to a well-off family of land and business owners, Ekhleif Tarawneh has chosen a different track for himself: academia.

Born in Khaldieh in Karak Governorate in 1958, the University of Jordan (UJ) president said he started work when he was 10 years old, managing one of his family’s grocery shops. 

“I used to wake up early to buy vegetables from merchants in Mutah and Iraq areas… I used to walk to receive them early in the morning and before they arrive to the village to get a good price and the amount that I need,” Tarawneh said in a recent interview with The Jordan Times.

A third child among eight siblings, Tarawneh added that his involvement in business at a young age did not affect his achievement at school, and he received a scholarship to study public administration at UJ in 1976.

"Although the scholarship covered my expenses, I decided to work at the university’s restaurant where I was paid 18 piasters per hour. I worked there not to make money but to interact with people."

In addition to his regular classes, the academic said he enrolled himself in other off-campus language and typing courses.

After finishing his military service, Tarawneh said he joined the Trade Ministry. 

Rather than getting comfortable in his job at the ministry, he began searching for the next academic step to take, winning a master's scholarship in corporate economy in Italy through the Ministry of Planning and the Civil Service Bureau in 1983. 

“I finished my study in nine months, but the Higher Education Ministry refused to equate my certificate, although I graduated with distinction… This was because I finished the MA degree in less than one year."

When he returned to Jordan, in addition to his work at the ministry, Tarawneh said he also worked extra jobs, including at an insurance company and teaching at the Khawarezmi College.

“Then I applied for another scholarship in 1986 to the US Hunter College in New York,” and started studying before the final confirmation for the scholarship. 

The government did not confirm it, and so Tarawneh did not receive the scholarship, but his father urged him to stay and continue his studies.

“I studied education, and then moved to Kansas, Emporia State University."

He then returned to Jordan to apply for a PhD at local universities, but they had no seats.

Undeterred, Tarawneh was able to secure a scholarship to continue his studies on education in the US. 

After a brief stint as a car dealer in the US, he returned to Jordan in 1992 and started working as a lecturer at Mutah University in 1993, eventually becoming the dean for student affairs and vice president. 

"I remained there until 2008."

Tarawneh then moved to the Higher Education Accreditation Commission, which became financially and administratively independent from the Higher Education Ministry under his tenure.

Tarawneh was then appointed as president of Balqa Applied University, before moving to the UJ four years ago.

His belief in the importance of academia remains strong, with plans to improve UJ's international standing.

"My objective is to make the UJ among the best 500 universities worldwide."

AMMAN – The results of the Tawjihi (General Secondary Education Certificate Examination) winter session were out on Monday with a 44 per cent pass rate, up from 40.2 per cent last year.

Of the total 37,209 regular students who sat for the exam’s academic streams, 16,378 passed, marking a pass rate of 54.6 per cent in the scientific stream, 33.2 per cent in the literary, 16.3 per cent in the Sharia, 40.7 per cent in the IT and 46 per cent in the health education streams.

A total of 3,159 students out of the 10,506 who sat for the vocational stream exams passed, at a rate of 30.1 per cent, according to figures released by the Education Ministry.

The pass rate among private students — those who retook the exam after failing in previous years and are eligible to apply to universities if they pass — stood at 40.9 per cent.

At a press conference, Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat also announced the top 10 students in each stream, with girls taking the lion’s share of the list, as has been the case for the past years, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Students tend to celebrate their results by driving around the Kingdom’s streets, singing and honking their cars.

The Public Security Department (PSD) said it issued 1,690 tickets on Monday around the Kingdom for motorists who were driving in processions, while 13 motorists were fined for drifting.

Violating vehicles were impounded in the Central Traffic Department prior to transferring them to the impound square in Swaqa, according to a PSD statement.

The PSD also registered other violations where police officers could not stop the cars, adding that it will summon the vehicles’ owners later to take legal and administrative measures against them.

Earlier in the day, the PSD said it had intensified its monitoring of the streets to take action against negative celebration methods of Tawjihi results.

The PSD has also allocated a WhatsApp number (0797911911) to file complaints and communicate with the Command and Control Centre, where the public can report negative practices such as festive firing, Petra reported.

The number will be available around the year, and specialised PSD officers will be receiving complaints confidentially, Petra said.

The Central Traffic Department along with police, the criminal investigation and preventive security departments are implementing security campaigns to detect all negative practices associated with Tawjihi.

The PSD urged the public to express their happiness in a civilised manner away from practices that would endanger the lives of others or cause traffic congestion, Petra added.

AMMAN — Tuesday marks the 39th anniversary of the death of Her Majesty Queen Alia, who passed away on February 9, 1977.

The late queen, who was born in Cairo in December 1948, died in a helicopter crash while returning from an inspection trip to Tafileh Hospital in southern Jordan.

Queen Alia, born Alia Baha Uddin Toukan, married His Majesty King Hussein in 1971.

They had two children: Their Royal Highnesses Princess Haya and Prince Ali. In 1972, they adopted Abeer Moheisen.

Active in charity and social work, Queen Alia represented Jordanian women at many international conferences, serving as a model for Arab women in supporting their causes and their participation in socio-economic development.

In commemoration of Queen Alia, Princess Haya, wife of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, set up Tkiyet Um Ali, which provides assistance to underprivileged families.

Launched in 2006, the project was originally an idea introduced by the late queen who wanted to help underprivileged families.

The term “tkiyet” dates back to the Ottoman days, when prominent families opened facilities on their estates to offer food to the poor and homeless.

AMMAN — The army said on Monday that Border Guards received 64 Syrian refugees during the previous 24 hours.

Border Guards transferred the refugees to the shelters and camps, and Royal Medical Services cadres treated the injured, according to a Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army statement. 

AMMAN — Two people were injured on Monday in a two-vehicle collision on the Anjara-Amman road, a Civil Defence Department (CDD) statement said.

Ajloun CDD Director Col. Hani Smadi said the cadres administered first aid to the injured and took them to Iman public Hospital where they were listed in fair condition. 

AMMAN — Criminal Investigation Department (CID) personnel have retrieved 15 computers that were stolen several days ago from a public school in Muwaqqar, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Monday.

After a complaint about the stolen computers, CID personnel in Amman started investigating the case and found information that people offered the computers for sale at a shop in Sahab area.

CID cadres arrested two suspects and found the 15 stolen computers. The two suspects are being questioned to identify the other involved accomplices, according to Petra.