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AMMAN — Jordan on Tuesday said recapturing the Iraqi key city of Ramadi, capital of the country’s Anbar province, from the Daesh terrorist gang is an important step and a qualitative breakthrough in the war against terrorism.

Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani, who is also government spokesperson, said in a statement that the victory came as a result of determination by the international coalition and Iraqi forces to restore security and confidence to the Iraqi citizens.
Momani reaffirmed Jordan's “firm and constant stance to fight terrorism wherever it is”.

AMMAN — One work injury occurred every 34 minutes in Jordan in 2014 and one work-related death was registered every three days, the Social Security Corporation (SSC) said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference to announce the findings of the 2013-2014 report on labour injuries in Jordan, SSC Director General Nadia Rawabdeh said most of these injuries are due to the lack of staff training and awareness of health and safety standards of their professions.

"The construction sector registered the highest rate of injuries, standing at 44.7 incidents for each 1,000 SSC subscribers," Rawabdeh told reporters, highlighting that such a situation necessitates a revision of safety and health standards followed in the sector.

Direct cumulative expenses from labour injuries the SSC incurred since its establishment in 1977 have reached JD212 million, of which JD16.2 million was spent in 2014 alone, she said.

Injury leaves in 2014 totalled 97,693 days off, down from 138,541 days registered in 2013, Rawabdeh said, noting that such a decline in injury leaves lowers SSC's injury expenses, increases institutions' productivity and contribute to guaranteeing full wages for employees.

She also highlighted that the number of labour accidents the corporation registered decreased by 3 per cent from 15,879 accidents the SSC spotted in 2013 to 15,395 accidents in 2014.

The corporation labelled 12,756 accidents as labour injuries out of the 15,395 accidents it registered in 2014, with a coverage percentage of 82.9 per cent, while in 2013 the corporation tagged 12,819 accidents as labour injuries out of 15,879 accidents, amounting for 80.7 per cent of the total figure.

The director general added that the SSC will urge institutions to pay more attention to safety and health standards and adopt clear and written policies in this regard with the participation of their workers.

"The general rate for injuries in 2014 declined to 12.2 per 1,000 SSC subscribers, compared to 13 per 1,000 subscribers in 2013," Rawabdeh noted.

Some 77.5 per cent of the injured workers in 2014 have recovered, while permanent injuries and deaths constituted 15.1 per cent of the labour injuries, according to an SSC statement, which highlighted that female injuries stood at 7.4 per cent of the total injuries in 2014.

The agency registered a total of 150 injury deaths in 2014, of which 145 cases were among male workers, compared to 105 deaths in 2013, including 98 fatalities among males, the statement noted.

SSC Spokesperson Musa Sbeihi referred to the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) statistics which showed that a total of 317 million labour injuries occur annually around the world, where 2.3 million workers lose their lives.

“Lack of training, awareness and supervision are main causes for labour injuries,” Sbeihi said, noting that the international cost of these injuries amounts to $3 trillion, which equals 4 per cent of the international GDP.

AMMAN — A man died on Tuesday after his vehicle overturned in Jafer area, according to a Civil Defence Department (CDD) statement. A 54-year-old also died when his vehicle overturned in Ghor Al Mazraa area.

Also on Wednesday, seven people were injured when a mini-van they were riding overturned in Naimeh area, Irbid CDD Director Brig. Gen. Munib Awawdeh said.

In the same area, a school bus hit another vehicle, resulting in the injury of 13 people. Awawdeh said the second accident took place because of the crowd of spectators who gathered to observe the first accident.

AMMAN — The Lower House’s Tuesday session saw scathing criticism of Amman Mayor Aqel Biltaji, with some MPs accusing him of ignoring their requests to meet with parliamentary panels.

MP Yihya Saud (Amman, 2nd District) charged that Biltaji has disregarded three invitations by the Palestine Committee to discuss the conditions of the Hussein, Wihdat and Nasr refugee camps for the Palestinian refugees.

Saud went further to accuse Biltaji of abuse of office, charging that the mayor has awarded contracts to his relatives to implement construction projects in Amman without floating tenders.

Dismayed also over Biltaji’s failure to attend House committee meetings, Deputy Zakariya Sheikh (Islamic Centrist Party list) described the mayor as an “immune figure”, wondering why Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour is not obliging him to cooperate with lawmakers.

For MP Mohammad Qatatsheh (Tafileh, 1st District), Biltaji is acting with an “attitude as if he were above the law”.

The session also saw tension under the Dome when several lawmakers called for continuing the discussion of the government’s economic policies, which was on the agenda of Sunday’s session. The meeting on Sunday was adjourned for lack of quorum.

First Deputy Speaker MP Mustafa Amawi (Islamic Centrist Party list) turned down the request, adhering instead to the session’s agenda. 

Angry with Amawi’s decision, some MPs walked out to the gallery.

Proceeding with the session’s agenda, the House referred the 2015 amendments to the Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission Law and the Civil Aviation Law to its energy and transport panels respectively.

The House also referred the 2015 amendments to the Banks and Central Bank of Jordan laws to a joint panel from its finance and investment committees.

AMMAN — Relatives of Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails, freed prisoners and other activists on Monday discussed difficulties detainees face while serving their sentences, and condemned Israeli practices against them, calling for more popular support for prisoners’ causes.

Mazen Malasah — head of the Jordan Engineers Association’s freedoms committee, which co-organised the session with the association’s committee of engineers for Palestine and Jerusalem — said there are currently 26 Jordanian prisoners in Israel and 30 missing.

During the meeting, dubbed “Our prisoners... diaries and facts”, Malasah mentioned some of the prisoners’ demands which call for the government to arrange visits that reunite prisoners with their families, especially since the last visit the government arranged was in 2008 and included only 16 prisoners.

“We call on the government to send lawyers to follow up on the legal and humanitarian status of prisoners in Israel and to send a medical delegation to check on their health conditions, in addition to restoring national numbers to some of them,” the former prisoner in Israel added.

“Above all, we call on the government to ask Israel to free our prisoners through the many pressure tools it has at its disposal, such as threatening to freeze the Wadi Araba Treaty and freeze bilateral commercial, cultural and diplomatic normalisation,” Malasah said.

Anas Abu Khdeir, spokesperson of the media team supporting Jordanian prisoners in Israel, Fedaa, said there are around 7,800 prisoners in Israel, which in 2015 alone arrested some 6,830 people for different periods, the majority of whom were children.

He added that there are around 350 children under 16 imprisoned in Israel, noting that the UN defines children as those who are under 19 years old, while Israel considers anyone under the age of 16 a child.

“In 2015, the occupation forces apprehended some 225 females, 55 of whom are still imprisoned including 10 under the age of 16,” Abu Khdeir said, and there were some 650 administrative detentions in 2015.

Mohammad Abu Jaber, whose brother Abdullah has been serving a 20 year prison term in Israel since 2000, said his brother has been on a hunger strike for some 50 consecutive days to demand his transfer to Jordan to serve the remainder of his sentence.

“Abdullah previously went on strike for 19 days which was ended by a visit of the Jordanian ambassador in Tel Aviv who promised him he would secure his release, but to no avail,” Mohammad said.

Mahdi Suleiman, father of the youngest Jordanian prisoner in Israel Mohammad, said his son underwent “different kinds of torture” in prisons and blamed officials for “failing to secure his release” before being sentenced recently to a 15-year imprisonment.

Shifaa Kanani, whose brother Laith has been missing in Israel since 2007, said her brother graduated from university in 2006 — one year before he travelled to Egypt to pursue his postgraduate studies.

“In June 2007, Laith telephoned my father and revealed his intention to be a martyr in Palestine,” Shifaa said, and the family has not heard from him ever since.

Nusaibah Jaradat, a freed prisoner, mentioned examples of the difficult detention circumstances facing female prisoners, especially in winter when prison officials keep doors open so that inmates feel the cold.

AMMAN — The Jordan Micro Credit Company (Tamweelcom) and Youth Business International (YBI) on Tuesday launched the Youth Business Jordan (YBJ) initiative to support young entrepreneurs.

“The YBJ programme was launched through the partnership between Tamweelcom and the UK institution YBI with the aim of supporting innovative projects of young Jordanians between the ages of 18 and 35,” Tamweelcom Chairman Mustafa Nasereddin said at the launching ceremony, which was held under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Noor. 

He urged all those interested from the public and private sectors to support the programme and its goals, thanking the King Hussein Foundation for supporting Tamweelcom over the past 16 years.

With the youth unemployment rate in Jordan estimated at around 27 per cent, YBJ seeks to “nurture the Jordanian entrepreneurial spirit, offering knowledge and support on all levels, from giving youth a platform to present their ideas and all the way through to providing technical training, coaching and mentorship to help them sustain their businesses”, according to Tamweelcom.

There were around 1.25 million young Jordanians between the ages of 18 and 35 in 2014, according to a video shown at the ceremony, which said that if 5 per cent of them had innovative ideas, they would have 62,500 potential projects. 

Assuming that also only 5 per cent of their ideas were financed, 3,125 new projects would be implemented.

If each project of the 3,125 employed only two people, there would be 6,250 young people with jobs, according to the video. 

The YBJ initiative invited any young Jordanian with a project idea to apply to benefit from its various services, certificates and awards as well as project financing that amounts to JD20,000 with a six-month grace period. 

Another video shown at the ceremony showcased success stories of Tamweelcom’s “Fekrati” award winners, which was launched in 2014.

The award, which paved the way to launching the YBJ, included ideas for the Jordan Origami Academy project, a women-only gym in Maan Governorate, the social campaign “Saheh Khabrak” to correct false news, and a sewing shop in Ain Basha.

Established in 1999, Tamweelcom is a regional micro-finance institution, registered at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply as a limited liability company owned by the Noor Al Hussein Foundation, which operates independently under the umbrella of the King Hussein Foundation.

YBI, established in 2000, is an international network of independent organisations supporting “under-served” young people between the ages of 18 and 35 who want to start their own businesses but do not have the means to do so.

AMMAN – A special committee at the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) is still verifying dozens of money transfer documents for clients of a major currency exchange company closed by the authorities a year ago. 

In December last year, the CBJ closed down Samhouri Exchange over violations committed by the management.  

An official at the CBJ told The Jordan Times Tuesday that once the panel completes verifying the documents, it will oblige the currency exchange company to pay the money to the clients of pending inbound and outbound transfers. 

The official, who requested anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said the committee is looking into financial claims for dozens of clients. 

He noted that Samhouri Company, which had seven branches in Amman, was liquidated by the CBJ, adding that the committee may complete its work within the coming three months.

Vijay Neekhra, an Indian worker in Jordan, said he transferred an amount of $5,000 last December. The money never reached the beneficiary and he has not been paid back by the company. 

Moreover, Binu Johan transferred $1,583 to his family in India also last December.

Both senders have not presented their money transfer documents to the CBJ because they did not know that there is a special committee looking into the case. 

But the CBJ official said the central bank published advertisements in newspapers calling on clients of pending transfers to submit their claims to the committee, adding that they can still present their transfer receipts to the committee.   

There are around 120 currency exchange firms in Jordan, according to the Jordanian Exchange Association. 

AMMAN — The government’s recent statement on the possibility of raising the minimum wage has elicited different views among stakeholders, with labour unions commending the move and the private sector warning of its consequences.

At a recent meeting with members of the Lower House Financial Committee, Labour Minister Nidal Katamine said the raise of the current wage, JD190, may vary from one profession to another, and may be higher for female workers with lower employment rates.

Over the past two years, the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions has been calling for increasing the minimum wage to JD300, according to its president, Mazen Maaytah.

“Our concern as representatives of some 750,000 workers is to bridge the gap between the minimum wage and the poverty line,” he said, noting that increasing the minimum wage will ultimately increase workers’ purchasing power and motivate the economy.

The national annual poverty line for 2010 was set at JD813.7 per individual. 

He commended the government’s “understanding” of the situation. However, representatives of private employers claim such a move will have harmful effects, such as increasing costs, hindering investments and decreasing competitiveness of local products.

Jordan Chamber of Commerce President Nael Kabariti said any suggestions to raise the minimum wage must be supported by economic studies that examine the consequences of such a decision.

According to international agreements that Jordan has signed, the minimum wage must apply to all workers in the Kingdom, without any discrimination based on their nationalities.

“We are not with or against raising the minimum wage,” Kabariti told The Jordan Times, adding that it is unlikely that most Jordanian families would pay the suggested amount of JD300 per month to domestic helpers or to guest workers in unregulated fields.

He explained that employees are required to pay an additional 20 per cent of the salary as social security subscription, which would increase the monthly payments to JD360 per worker. 

Kabariti added that the majority of workers in commerce are Jordanians who receive monthly salaries starting at JD300.

Increasing minimum wages will send wrong messages about the performance of the Jordanian economy and increase inflation rates, according to Jordan Chamber of Industry Director Maher Mahrouq.

He said such a move is “currently unnecessary”, citing official figures that the average monthly salary for workers in the industry sector is JD467.

“Jordanian workers will not benefit much from increasing the minimum wage,” Mahrouq added, noting that guest workers at the Qualifying Industrial Zone receive extra incentives on top of their minimum wage salaries.    

The sector leader said minimum wages in Jordan are higher than wages in other “better economically faring” countries in the region.

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

AMMAN — The committee entrusted with following up on the implementation of the media strategy held a meeting at the headquarters of the Jordan Press Association on Tuesday to complete its discussions related to establishing a complaint council.

Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani, who chaired the meeting, explained that the council is a place to which citizens can resort to protest media violations, in a manner that does not nullify their right to resort to court.

Momani noted that establishing the council was one of the proposals made within the media strategy on the issue of media ethics, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

AMMAN — Dozens of Jordanians on Tuesday participated in a sit-in near the Foreign Ministry to express solidarity with the family of Jordanian prisoner in Israel Abdullah Abu Jaber who has been on a hunger strike for some 50 consecutive days.

Abu Jaber started the strike to demand spending the last third of his jail sentence in Jordan, according to a statement from the media team supporting Jordanian prisoners in Israel, Fedaa.

Abu Jaber was sentenced to a 20-year prison term in 2000 for “resisting the occupation forces”, Fedaa said. Mohammad Abu Jaber, Abdullah’s brother, said that Foreign Ministry Secretary General Mohammad Tayseer Bani Yassin and Adviser Mohammad Abu Wardeh received protesters and promised to follow up on requests to arrange visits to prisoners’ families, the statement said.