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AMMAN – The Senate on Sunday endorsed the 2016 draft budget law as referred from the Lower House with no changes. 

The senators needed one meeting to okay the bill, but its concerned panel made recommendations as guidelines for the government, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported, including  the establishment of a specialised unit to make sure that economic projects included in the bill  would have the envisioned impact on development.

Reading a report containing the Senate's Financial and Economic Committee's notes on the budget, Senator Jawad Anani recommended that the Amman Stock Exchange be converted into a public shareholding company in addition to activating the Investment Commission.

According to Petra, the committee also called for allowing citizens to install solar panels and recommended no renewal of the monopoly contract signed with the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company, which is so far the only company allowed to import and refine oil. 

Anani, the panel's rapporteur, urged the government to clarify its strategy to pay the accumulated debts of the Water Authority and the Jordan Electric Power Company, Petra said.

The committee also called for supporting the education and agriculture sectors, reconsidering the distribution of public healthcare centres, and protecting forest lands, Petra added.

The panel recommended that the government prepare a well-defined rehabilitation and recruitment plan in addition to implementing mega projects as part of the strategy to improve the situation in governorates, according to Petra. 

GAM said on Sunday that 5,000 municipal staff were on standby and would be working around-the-clock during this week.

“The municipal staff will constantly check the state of the manholes to prevent the flooding of streets and tunnels. In addition, a winter fleet of 140 vehicles is also on standby including snowploughs, bulldozers and tow trucks,” GAM Spokesperson Izzedin Shammout told The Jordan Times.

Meanwhile, the Jordanian Electric Power Company said it had in place a “decentralised” emergency plan that would ensure early response to electricity-related calls, officials said on Sunday. 

Ali Hadid, president of the Electricity Workers Union, said around 1,700 workers, employees and management staff will be deployed to work during the expected blizzard this week. 

“We are cooperating with the management to provide the emergency workers with safety gear,” he told The Jordan Times.  

The syndicate official said the positive development in this year’s emergency plan is that the work process is decentralised so that fixing electricity breakdowns would take less time than it used to in previous years. 

“We have also moved metres to safer places so that they are not flooded by water,” he added. 

A total of 250 electricity metres in the capital have been changed after they were damaged in heavy rainfall late last year, according to the company and a unionist. 

Meanwhile, the Central Traffic Department (CTD) on Sunday urged the public to stay at home and restrict their movements to emergencies to avoid blocking roads and enable emergency vehicles to help people in need.

“We urge the public to adhere to warning announcements by officials, especially those related to icy roads, which make it extremely difficult and dangerous to drive,” CTD Director Col. Basem Kharabsheh said.

AMMAN — Whether it is a wise decision to announce a public holiday during heavy snowfall or not remains a typical debate among Jordanians whenever a blizzard is forecast to affect the country.

While stay-at-home supporters justify their stance by pointing out the perils of going to work and school during heavy snowfall, opponents believe that a public holiday would only result in an “unnecessary crippling of the country’s public life”. 

“Snowfall in Jordan does not pile equally in all regions. Announcing a public holiday when it snows harms businesses for no good reason,” Michael Batmani told The Jordan Times. 

The private business owner noted that he already pays his employees 30 days worth of their services every month, while they only work for 26 days. 

“And most companies are off two days a week, which means their workers serve for 22 days in return for 30 days of payment,” Batmani said, adding that having more days off during blizzards affects the productivity and profits of corporations. 

“I advise my employees to drive carefully and be very cautious during the snowfall,” he said, adding that the government should ensure that roads are safe and open during snowstorms.  

Yazeed Hunaiti, who also runs a private business, noted that holidays during snowstorms are necessary for the safety of employees, especially when snow accumulates.   

“I would not want to be responsible for any harm that might happen if they come to work in bad weather conditions,” he said. 

Dima Qaisi, an HR director at a private company, noted that employees take snow as an excuse not to show up to work, adding that holidays during blizzards should be left for employers to decide. 

“Employers should notify employees of what they expect from them during inclement weather. A compromise can be reached during such circumstances, such as allowing employees to work from home or leave as soon as they complete their work,” said Qaisi. 

Hani Al Zubaidi, a private company employee, said the damages caused by not giving days off during blizzards surpass any harm to business that could be brought on by allowing employees to stay home. 

“Slippery roads can become very dangerous and no one should risk leaving home when snow is accumulating,” he told The Jordan Times. 

Shadi Al Jamal, who works at a café in Amman, said the snowfall is an occurrence his wife and children wait for to be able to spend time with him. 

“Due to the nature of my work, which sometimes prevents me from taking a day off for weeks, I wait for snowstorms to see my family,” he noted. 

Salwa Jaouni, an employee and a mother of three, said she feels grateful for having an “understanding” employer who does not force her to come to work during harsh weather. 

“It is cruel to wake up my three-year-old son to take him to kindergarten so I can go to work in such weather. I stayed with my children home today [Sunday],” she added. 

Economists have repeatedly warned about the economic costs of additional holidays and the impact they have on the overall productivity of the country. 

Commenting on a snow holiday last year, economist Yusuf Mansur wrote on his Facebook page at the time that a day off costs the Kingdom’s economy JD100 million in losses.

AMMAN — Despite their relatively modest contributions to scientific research locally and internationally, women have what it takes to excel, according to award-winning Jordanian scientist Ramia Al Bakain.

Women constitute only 30 per cent of scientists worldwide, she said, adding that out of 575 Nobel Prizes in the fields of medicine, chemistry and physics, so far only 16 were won by women.

“Women are perfectly capable of conducting academic research in all fields,” Al Bakain said, adding that married researchers with children can balance their responsibilities if they manage their time well.

In a recent interview with The Jordan Times, Al Bakain, an assistant professor at the chemistry department of the University of Jordan’s faculty of science since 2012, highlighted internal and external motivations as a key starting point for female scientists.

“Female scientists and researchers must look for motivation and support, whether psychological or financial,” she said, adding that awards like the L’Oréal-UNESCO fellowship are a “significant boost” for female researchers.

Al Bakain is one of five recipients of the annual L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Levant and Egypt regional fellowship, which is part of an international award that celebrates women scientists and highlights their achievements.

Al Bakain said winning the fellowship boosted her self-esteem as a woman scientist as she felt that her efforts were “appreciated”, adding that the fellowship allowed her to communicate and cooperate with some 2,000 female scientists worldwide. 

Her project proposes new methods in chemical separation of environmental contaminants in water, including soil and drug residues, in order to enable the reuse of purified water for irrigation purposes.

“The project utilises materials taken from crustaceans, such as caridean shrimp or prawn, to develop a substance that can be used in chemical separation poles,” she said, noting that positive results of the preliminary tests qualified her to win the 10,000-euro award.

The chemist and her team, consisting of two other professors, have so far accomplished 35 per cent of the work on the project, which addresses a “critical” issue for Jordan — water scarcity.  

All scientists, Al Bakain said, should be part of “comprehensive teams” that seek practical solutions to pressing issues in their countries, as opposed to only conducting research for research’s sake.

She reports back to L’Oreal-UNESCO women on the progress of work, in addition to delivering a final report at the end of the fellowship year that will discuss the achievements and costs.

The researcher and the four awarded scientists from Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt, who were selected from 62 applicants, have the opportunity to cooperate in a comprehensive project, the Jordanian researcher said.

In October 2015, Al Bakain started a one-year postdoctoral scholarship through the Scientific Research Support Fund to conduct research in analytical and biochemistry labs at the University Pierre et Marie Curie in France, where she currently performs her experiments.

Studying science is a long and tiring journey, but it is worthy and rewarding, according to the professor, who advises emerging female researchers to “be patient, like the challenge, go ahead and never ever give up”.

The partnership between L’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO for a better representation of women in science dates back to 1998. 

Each year, the programme recognises five leading women scientists, from each world region, who have made extraordinary discoveries in their fields, and grants fellowships to 236 researchers.

AMMAN — About 85 per cent of private and public sector institutions in Jordan are no longer using any pirated software, an official said Sunday.

“This is a very good percentage and it will lead to improvement in Jordan’s ranking in regional and international reports on software piracy,” said National Library Department (NLD) Director General Mohammad Abbadi.

The NLD has been intensively implementing campaigns over the past few years to crack down on usage of pirated software in different entities including schools, professional associations, companies and municipalities. 

It has also taken measures to ensure that ministries and other public entities are using original software, according to Abbadi.

“Some small-sized entities in remote areas and villages might still be using pirated software, but our efforts will continue to push the ratio of entities and organisations using original software to 100 per cent,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone.

“The lower the percentage of pirated software used by entities, the better it is for the economy, for investments and for the country’s overall reputation and ability to attract investments in relevant areas,” the official added.

In 2015, the NLD confiscated around 40,000 pirated items, including books, CDs and DVDs, of which around 2-3 per cent were porn film DVDs.

The number of pirated items confiscated last year was lower than in 2014, when the figure stood at 48,000, Abbadi said.

In 2015, the department referred some 360 cases of intellectual property rights violations to court, compared with 460 cases in 2014.

The Jordanian Copyright Law stipulates that it is a crime to download software, music or movies that are protected under the legislation. Offenders face a prison sentence of between three months and three years and a fine ranging from JD1,000 to JD6,000. 

Around 4,000 stores in the country sell pirated items, according to Abbadi. 

AMMAN — Jordan’s economic growth considerably slowed in 2015, with the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) increase estimated at 2 per cent, well below the average of 5.8 per cent between 2000 and 2011, said a new international report.

“The World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2016”, released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) last week, said unemployment, vulnerable employment and working poverty are expected to remain high in Arab states outside the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the report said.

The incidence of vulnerable employment is expected to remain above 33 per cent in 2016 in non-GCC countries, while the rate of working poverty (living on less than $3.1 per day) is expected to be 36 per cent, according to the ILO.

The report added that less than one in five youths is in the labour market across non-GCC Arab economies, compared to one-quarter of the youth population in GCC countries.

It listed Jordan as one of the countries where the problem of weak job creation in the face of a rapidly growing labour force is expected to escalate in the near future. Such is the case with Iraq and Lebanon, where the influx of Syrian refugees is also steadily growing, according to the report.

“Some estimates suggest that for Lebanon and Jordan, the direct fiscal costs associated with the Syrian crisis related to health, education and infrastructure amount to roughly 1 per cent of GDP,” it added.

Nevertheless, and despite the estimated short-term costs for host countries’ economies, the large influx of migrants typically represents a resource in the longer term, the report suggested. 

As refugees gradually integrate in local labour markets, economic growth and domestic demand are expected to improve. 

For instance, a preliminary ILO study showed that Syrian direct investment inflows have benefited Jordan by accelerating industrial activities, while also creating employment opportunities for both Syrians and Jordanians.

The World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2016 said the world economy is estimated to have expanded by 3.1 per cent in 2015, over half a percentage point less than had been projected a year earlier. 

“If current policy responses are maintained, the outlook is for continued economic weakening, posing significant challenges to enterprises and workers,” the report said, adding that over the next two years, the world economy is projected to grow by only around 3 per cent, significantly less than before the advent of the global crisis. 

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday met with Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh in Aqaba as part of a series of meetings that started on Saturday, a Royal Court statement said.

The meeting is part of the King’s efforts to sustain coordination and dialogue and enhance cooperation among different regional and international parties to combat terrorism and extremism.

AMMAN — The army said on Sunday that 125 Syrian refugees entered Jordan in the previous 72 hours.

Border Guards transferred the new arrivals to shelters and camps, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. Royal Medical Services personnel treated the injured.

AMMAN — Sales of food items have increased by 20 to 100 per cent around the Kingdom during the past two days, with consumers rushing to malls and shopping centres to stock up in preparation for expected snow, Foodstuff Traders Association President Khalil Haj Tawfiq said Sunday.

Haj Tawfiq noted that the demand on food items peaked on Friday and Saturday, which saw stability of prices, adding that the demand was less than what was recorded during similar conditions in previous years.

He also said that the Civil Service Consumer Corporation and the Military Consumer Corporation have received extra amounts of food items for emergency situations during the current weather conditions, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

AMMAN — Jordan’s Interpol sent a security delegation to Egypt in order to retrieve an African suspect wanted for a scam case, a Public Security Department (PSD) statement released Sunday said.

The Egyptian Interpol arrested the suspect and search is still ongoing for an Arab woman wanted for the same case, the PSD said. Investigations also showed that a third accomplice facilitated the crime in return for money and the Egyptian Interpol sent his name to Interpol’s office in Amman.

AMMAN — The Public Security Department (PSD) on Sunday raised the flag of the Great Arab Revolt in celebration of its centennial, a PSD statement said.

During the ceremony, PSD Director Maj. Gen. Atef Saudi expressed his well-wishes to His Majesty King Abdullah on the revolt’s 100th anniversary. Also on Sunday, the Civil Defence Department (CDD) raised the Revolt’s banner and celebrated the anniversary.