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AMMAN — The Society for the Care of Gifted Autistic Children and the Association of Al Baraka Charitable Foundation are holding a free training course for 23 mothers of autistic children, from the society released Tuesday. 

The three-day course, held under the title “How to be your child’s trainer”, covers behaviour modification and speech therapy techniques. 

The course, which concludes on Thursday, is the first of several planned training courses to take place in other governorates this year in coordination with the Ministry of Social Development, the society said.

On the first day, trainer Thikra Haj Hussein, who holds an MA in special education from Strasbourg University in France, reviewed the stages to overcome bad behaviour, how to provide a safe and healthy environment for autistic children and methods to encourage them to learn and develop.

Haj Hussein, who is currently the manager of a centre in Jeddah, stressed the importance of social integration for autistic children. 

In a discussion, the participants shared their experiences with the trainer, who gave them guidance and stressed that mothers should not feel frustrated. 

In the next two days, trainer Iman Darwish, a speech therapist, will give a course on speech techniques.

“The cooperation between Baraka foundation and the Society for the Care of Gifted Autistic Children is aimed at helping families in need and providing the required training and rehabilitation for the parents and their children from all segments in Jordan,” the statement quoted Ali Al Qatarenh , CEO of the Association of Al Baraka Charitable Foundation, as saying 

Qatarenh added that the foundation has decided to provide free high quality services to underprivileged families with autistic children due to the high cost of such training and employ national and international experts in this regard.

The Society for the Care of Gifted Autistic Children thanked the Social Development Ministry for its support to plans and programmes aimed at strengthening mothers’ role in helping children with disabilities join their community.

AMMAN — The Lower House resumed its deliberations of the 2016 draft state budget law on Tuesday, with MPs continuing to call for improving citizens’ living conditions and implementing development projects.

Some deputies described the budget bill as lacking well-defined policies to resolve persisting economic woes, which they attributed to international financial and monetary institutions’ the meddling in the national economy.

MP Raed Hijazin (Karak, 2nd District) accused the government of relying on citizens’ pockets to generate revenues, calling for finding alternative sources of revenue other than taxes and fines.

Speaking on behalf of the Reform bloc, Deputy Hazem Qashou (Citizenship list) said the current exceptional circumstances were not taken into consideration while drafting the 2016 budget, urging the government to pay more attention to social aspects.

The former municipal affairs minister also called for improving the housing, transportation and energy sectors, as well as giving all segments the chance to benefit from strategic energy projects.

The absence of creativity is a major reason behind Jordan’s economic problems, according to MP Hamdiyeh Qwaidar (Karak) who called on the government to act independently and not confine itself to restrictions imposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. 

She also called for increasing the salaries of civil and military personnel and “resurrecting” the middle class.

MP Mazen Dalaeen (Labour and Professionalism list) underscored the need to increase capital spending allocated in the 2016 budget law for Karak, some 140km south of Amman, and implement development projects in the governorate.

Deputy Raed Kouz (Amman, 2nd District) called for building a public university and hospital in east Amman, and urged the government to abandon economic reform programmes imposed from abroad. 

The 2016 budget law is “conventional and loose”, lacking genuine solutions to poverty and unemployment, argued MP Mustafa Yaghi (Balqa, 4th District).

Development gains should be distributed evenly, Deputy Samir Orabi (Zarqa, 1st District) said, proposing the establishment of an industrial zone in Zarqa Governorate, some 22km east of Amman.

Describing the government’s resorting to citizens’ pockets as “completely and absolutely wrong”, former House speaker Abdul Hadi Majali (National Current Party list) said “economic figures carrying no political implications lead to destructive consequences”.

Majali added that the 2016 state budget contains no “serious” policies to address unemployment, poverty and high living costs. 

Deputies Yousef Abu Hweidi (Zarqa, 1st District) and Sameh Majali (Karak, 2nd District) also criticised the bill for the same reason

Announcing his rejection of the draft law, MP Jamil Nimri (Irbid, 2nd District) urged the government to draft a comprehensive vision to improve the national economy and improve citizens’ living conditions.

MP Abdul Karim Darayseh (Irbid, 4th District) called for implementing infrastructure and development projects in Irbid’s Ramtha District, some 90km north of Amman. 

The House is scheduled to continue deliberations over the bill on Wednesday.  

AMMAN —Jordan imported used cars worth almost JD740 million in 2015, registering a 16.5 per cent increase over 2014, a sector leader said Tuesday.

Jordan Free Zone Investors Association (JFZIA) President Nabil Rumman said 74,301 used cars entered the Kingdom last year, compared with 62,047 vehicles valued at around JD650 million in 2014.

Rumman attributed the increase to the incentives offered for trading in and replacing old cars with relatively new hybrids, in addition to the customs duty exemptions granted to people with disabilities, who imported 10,000 cars.

Demand on hybrid cars also increased by around 25 per cent in 2015 to reach 21,591, compared with the previous year, when 17,000 fuel-efficient cars entered the domestic market. 

Rumman told The Jordan Times in a phone interview that hybrids manufactured by Japan's auto giant Toyota — Prius and Camry — are still the most popular among Jordanian motorists, followed by American vehicles such as Ford.

Although the government exempted electric cars from registration fees, customs duties and taxes, and also waived fees for fully electric vehicles' charging devices, he said demand on such cars is still "too low".

"Electric cars are already very expensive from their country of origin. The average cost of an electric car is around JD60,000 to JD100,000," Rumman noted.

The re-export of used cars from the Kingdom's free zone continued to decline in 2015 due to political unrest in the region, according to the JFZIA president.  

The drop in re-exports was around 34.3 per cent, with 59,424 cars shipped to regional countries in 2015, while the figure stood at 90,512 in 2014.

Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Saudi Arabia were the main markets for Jordanian cat traders, he said, adding that Iraq was the largest market. 

"Seventy per cent of our auto exports from the free zone used to go to Iraq," Rumman said, noting that the situation changed dramatically after the closure of the Karameh-Turaibil border crossing for security reasons last July. 

He added that auto re-exports to Libya and Yemen stopped in 2015. 

AMMAN — The Public Security Department (PSD) is deploying undercover traffic inspectors to monitor public transport vehicles, a PSD official said on Tuesday. 

Maj. Wasfi Etoum, of the PSD's security media department, said the decision was taken following many complaints from the public. 

"We were already keeping a close watch on public transport means before, but we want to increase the monitoring," he told The Jordan Times over the phone.

Etoum said the PSD will intensify its campaign covering all public transport vehicles operating in the Kingdom. 

"There are some routes that receive many complaints compared to other ones. I cannot name them but we are observing them closely," he added.  

Ayman Zubaidi, a Jordanian who uses public transport, said he faces some difficulties while taking buses in Zarqa. 

"Some bus drivers refuse to stop. They only care about money and not about the safety and comfort of passengers," he added. 

Zubaidi noted that when he asks a driver to stop, he pulls over far away from his location. 

"At least the big buses do not do that and are more organised.” 

Malik Abu Ghneim, an electrician, said some drivers charge higher fares for short distances. 

"Also, safety is not always guaranteed because drivers race each other to reach their destination and be the first to get passengers," he added. 

AMMAN — Around 100,000 Jordanians are expected to perform umra (the lesser Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca) within the next two weeks during schools' winter break, the Jordan Society of Tourism and Travel Agents (JTTA) said Tuesday.

According to JTTA President Shaher Hamdan, reservations for umra have been increasing since the beginning of January. 

Hamdan noted that the Saudi authorities had previously reduced the number of visa applications allocated for each agency to 30 per day, in order to facilitate the processing of visas, but returned to allowing more visa applications for umra to address the high demand.

During this time of year, some 10,000 Jordanians apply for umra visas through 107 travel agencies, according to JTTA figures. 

Around 9,000 pilgrims travel by land daily to perform umra, while 5,000 go by air, according to Yusuf Baker, head of the JTTA's committee for religious tourism.

The "large" influx puts pressure on the visa section at the Saudi embassy, in addition to the Omari and Mudawara crossings into Saudi Arabia.

Baker noted that the number of pilgrims doubles on Wednesdays and Thursdays, as people want to perform Friday prayers in Medina Munawara or Mecca.

"This leads to heavy traffic at border points and sometimes families have to wait for up to 72 hours," he told The Jordan Times, also citing the authorities' need to intensify security checks due to the large influx of pilgrims.

Registered figures show that 136 buses will be heading to Saudi Arabia through the Mudawara crossing and 56 through the Omari crossing on Wednesday, Baker said, expecting the number to be representative of 70 to 80 per cent of the actual number of trips.

Meanwhile, he called on Jordanians who receive umra visas to wait 72 hours before travelling so that their electronic visa data are available at the border crossing, a matter that will spare them long waiting hours.

Baker urged pilgrims to consider low-cost air travel, which costs just a bit more than land transport.

He explained that the price of an air ticket on a low-cost carrier was JD330 last year, while it currently stands at around JD180.

AMMAN — Local print media outlets have given more coverage to human rights violations than electronic media, according to a report by the Jordan Media Institute (JMI).

The specialised study by the JMI’s “Akeed” online portal also found that interest in human rights in the local press increased by 40 per cent in 2015 compared with a similar report conducted in 2013.

Violations of citizens’ rights to receive services topped media outlets’ coverage of human rights at 38 per cent, said the JMI report, a copy of which was sent to The Jordan Times, followed by the right to education (25 per cent), the rights of marginalised groups (22 per cent), civil and political rights (14 per cent) and justice (13 per cent).

The study covered four dailies — Al Rai, Al Ghad, Ad-Dustour and As Sabeel — and three news websites — Ammon, Khaberni and JO24. 

According to the JMI’s findings, print media allocated 42 per cent of their coverage to the right to access information in comparison with 32 per cent in electronic media.

In terms of professional coverage, 57 per cent of news items published by websites were based on one source compared with 41 per cent in print media, the study said.

In addition, 1,051 news items were published on Amman, constituting 31 per cent of media outlets’ coverage of local issues, followed by the northern governorates with 14 per cent. 

The study included several recommendations, such as enhancing journalists’ professional skills and their knowledge of human rights and giving vulnerable groups more press coverage.   

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Tuesday met with Queen Mathilde of Belgium and other officials in Brussels to discuss mobilising international support for Jordan’s education sector. 

Queen Rania met with Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker to discuss ways to address the increasing strain on Jordan’s education sector as a result of the Syrian refugee crisis, according to a statement from her office.

Her Majesty’s meetings focused on showcasing the struggles Jordanians face in cities that are densely populated by Syrians.  

She highlighted the impact the crisis has had on the Kingdom’s resources, infrastructure, and especially schools, which have accommodated 150,000 Syrian students.

This has affected the quality of education at schools that have been forced to run double shifts, with teachers under pressure to handle larger numbers of students in each class, the statement said. 

Her Majesty’s meetings are part of Jordan’s extensive efforts at all levels, ahead of the Syria Donors Conference in London in early February where education will be a key theme.

Jordan currently hosts 1.4 million Syrians, who constitute 20 per cent of the Kingdom’s population; with only some 600,000 of them registered as refugees. 

Moreover, almost 90 per cent of Syrian refugees live in towns and villages instead of camps, stretching Jordan’s limited resources, schools and hospitals to the limit.

The funding received from the international community to support Jordan in dealing with the impact of the crisis in 2015 did not exceed 37 per cent of the Kingdom’s needs, according to official figures. 

London was the first stop in the Queen's working visit to several European countries, where she met with UK Prime Minister David Cameron last Friday, and discussed ways to help Jordan address the challenges created by the Syrian refugee influx.

AMMAN — The University of Jordan (UJ) on Tuesday condemned Monday's raid by Israeli forces on Birzeit University in the West Bank, describing it as a flagrant breach of international human rights accords. 

A statement quoted UJ President Ekhleif Tarawneh as saying that "everybody saw the heinous racist image of child killers and attackers of holy sites while they were breaking into a dear university, where they showed their anger and racism on the students, labs and libraries".

Israeli occupation forces insist on killing and destruction; Palestinians insist on pursuing life in a place where they enjoy freedom, security, education and knowledge, the UJ president added.

The Israeli army raided Birzeit University overnight on Monday, seizing computer equipment and causing damage, Agence France-Presse reported.

"A large number of soldiers came [at] about 2:30am (0030 GMT), blowing open the locks, breaking into three buildings and banning the university guards from approaching," Ghassan Khatib, vice president of Birzeit University, told AFP.

The army seized computers, speakers and other electronic equipment used by the student council, Khatib added.

Tarawneh said Israelis do not abide by international covenants, while Palestinians insist on revealing Israelis' false allegations, the cruelty of their occupation, and the terrorist policy their extremist government follows, which incites hatred, death and terrorism.

The UJ president added that the "free world will not hesitate to take noble stances" against the Israeli aggression towards education and scientists.

AMMAN — Public Security Department (PSD) Director Maj. Gen. Atef Saudi on Tuesday met with Filipino Ambassador to Jordan Junever M. Mahilum-West and an accompanying delegation, according to a PSD statement.

Discussions covered ways to enhance police cooperation, especially in training. Saudi voiced the PSD’s interest in benefiting from the expertise of neighbouring and friendly countries to improve the performance of its units.

AMMAN — Amman Deputy Mayor Yousef Shawarbeh on Tuesday met with Mayor of Riyadh Ibrahim Al Sultan and discussed cooperation in municipal work, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During the meeting in Riyadh, Shawarbeh and Sultan reviewed a set of projects the Greater Amman Municipality is working on. Sultan said Riyadh-Amman relations are based on cooperation that contributes to improving both cities.