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AMMAN — The Water Ministry on Sunday signed the engineering services agreement for the first phase of the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project (Red-Dead).

"Under the agreement, an international consortium will provide technical, legal and financial services for the implementation of the first phase of the Red-Dead project," an official at the ministry told The Jordan Times on condition of anonymity.

The 4.2 million euro agreement is funded by a grant from the French government, the official highlighted.

On December 1, the ministry published a call for tenders in local and international newspapers for the implementation of the first phase of the Red-Dead project.

The ministry said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times on Sunday that it will start receiving bids from qualifying firms during the first quarter of next year.

The Red-Dead project’s main components are a seawater intake structure; an intake pump station; a seawater pipeline; a desalination plant with a capacity of 65-85 million cubic metres (mcm) per year; a desalination brine conveyance pipeline; two lifting pump stations; hydropower plants; and discharge facilities at the Dead Sea.

Jordan signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel and Palestine in December 2013 to implement the first phase of the Red-Dead project. 

Under the memo, Palestine will receive 30mcm of freshwater to cover its water deficit, while Israel will buy its share of 50mcm of desalinated water from the project at cost value and sell Jordan the same amount of water in the northern Jordan Valley at a cost of JD0.27 per cubic metre.

In February this year, Jordan and Israel signed an agreement on the implementation of the project’s first phase.

The agreement drew up the guidelines for the main components of the scheme, including method and timeline, and also identified the mechanism to follow up on the project’s implementation and its social and environmental impacts, according to the ministry.

Under the first phase, a total of 300mcm of water will be pumped each year. In its following phases, the Red-Dead project entails transferring up to 2 billion cubic metres of seawater from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea annually, according to the ministry.

A total of 85-100mcm of water will be desalinated annually, while the seawater will be pumped out from an intake located in the north of the Gulf of Aqaba.

 In addition, a conveyor will be extended to transfer desalinated water as well as a pipeline to dump the brine into the Dead Sea to stop its constant decline, estimated at one metre every year.

The Kingdom will receive an additional 50mcm of water from the Lake Tiberias Reservoir annually to be added to Jordan’s share from the desalination station to provide Aqaba with water, according to the ministry.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Sunday received  Saudi Prince Khaled Bin Alwaleed Bin Talal and discussed the launch of  new investment projects in Jordan, especially in renewable energy.

At a meeting with the prince, who is the owner of KBW Investments, attended by Energy Minister Ibrahim Saif, the premier was briefed on a proposed business plan to establish a factory for manufacturing lighting units using LED technology.

The Saudi KBW Investments Company is planning to build the factory in Jordan, in partnership with the public sector, in addition to other projects that the prince intends to invest in, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The project will provide job opportunities for Jordanians, and its products will be exported to other countries around the world.

Ensour thanked Prince Khaled for choosing Jordan to host the project, which is part of a series of Saudi projects in Jordan, highlighting the country’s favourable investment climate.

At the meeting, the premier directed the concerned authorities to eliminate all obstacles that might face Saudi investments in Jordan.

Describing Jordan as an investment attraction, in light of the country’s security and stability, Prince Khaled expressed his appreciation of Jordan’s support for investors.

The Energy Ministry and KBW Investments signed an agreement to implement the LED- lighting unit manufacturing factory project at a cost of $9 million, according to Petra.

KBW invests in “a diverse array of businesses”, including the construction industry and technology start-ups, according to its website.

AMMAN — The participation of all Jordanian expatriates in parliamentary elections is a “difficult” process that is “next to impossible” due to a number of administrative and technical issues, a minister said Saturday.

“There are around 1 million Jordanians living in 138 countries but there are only 84 Jordanian embassies around the world,” Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs Khaled Kalaldeh said.

“As such, not all Jordanians abroad can participate in parliamentary elections,” the minister told The Jordan Times.

He also explained that not all candidates would have the financial ability to travel to Jordanians abroad and request their support depending on their programmes, citing Article 6 of the Constitution. 

Paragraph A of said article reads: “Jordanians shall be equal before the law. There shall be no discrimination between them as regards to their rights and duties on grounds of race, language or religion.”

However, the minister explained that Article 38 of the draft elections law that the government has referred to the Lower House allows for implementing an electronic voting system according to certain regulations decided by the Cabinet.

“If MPs’ endorse the government’s version, then Jordanians living abroad may be able to vote electronically according to certain regulations to be issued later.”

Kalaldeh explained that Jordanians living aboard can also come to the country to vote on elections day without prior registration, unlike the case in previous laws.

“Under the 2015 elections law, no prior registration or special voting cards are required,” he said.

AMMAN — Social media outlets are increasingly becoming a popular source of news for some Jordanian journalists, who, however, believe that traditional media will remain a credible news channel. 

They told The Jordan Times Sunday that posts, photos or conversations on websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sometimes can lead to story ideas or help them gauge public reaction to certain issues, adding that social media outlets have revolutionised the media landscape. 

Hatem Abbadi, managing editor at Al Rai daily, said social media tools can be beneficial for journalists “if used carefully”, explaining that information circulated in these outlets could be seeds for follow-up stories, but should not be taken for granted as trusted sources.

However, journalists can incorporate information published on the official pages of certain authorities or public figures into their stories, which saves time and effort if the shared information is sufficient and the source cannot be reached through traditional means, Abbadi noted.

The editor, who is specialised in the higher education beat, said the sector concerns young people, who are generally active on social media outlets, and so he is keen on joining relevant Facebook groups to keep abreast of issues of their concern.

But Abbadi warned that some individuals and groups may utilise social media to spread “exaggerated” ideas that could be harmful

The 2011 Arab Spring uprisings in the region prompted Al Ghad’s Samah Bibars to follow news on social media “much more often”.

“I observe social reactions on various issues and I sometimes get ideas for news stories and reports to write about,” she said.

Faisal Malkawi, chief reporter at Al Rai, said reporters at the newspaper actively follow news on social media outlets, particularly Facebook and Twitter, but they remain selective.

“Such outlets are open spaces for expression and circulation of news that requires verification from trusted sources,” Malkawi noted, highlighting fake accounts of officials as a “dangerous” phenomenon that could be used to spread rumours.

Although social media outlets are a “very significant” product of the technological revolution, they are widely used incorrectly among journalists, according to Ad-Dustour’s Awni Dawood.

The editor explained that some journalists tend to mix criticism and insults in their posts on social media, which makes them legally and socially liable.

Abbadi said social media outlets have allowed a large number of users to publish news in text, pictures and videos.

Although citizen journalism has a “very important” role in delivering news, a professional journalist’s job is to take it from there and make sure there is a newsworthy story by talking to experts and officials, he argued.

Similarly, Bibars said social media and traditional media are not mutually exclusive.

“Journalistic material with important content, whether in electronic or print media outlets, can have an imposing presence in the arena, as long as it attracts readers,” she noted.

For the majority of readers and social media users, print media is more credible, in the sense that newspapers focus on documentation and authenticity in their reports, according to Abbadi.

“A journalist adds further details to the news item, supported by background information,” he said.  

Abbadi and Dawood urged social media users to remain ethical and not use them to spread unverified news. 

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a May Criminal Court ruling sentencing a service cab driver to three years in prison for accidentally shooting and killing his wife in an Amman suburb in May 2014.

The Criminal Court ruled that the man's premeditated murder charges should be amended to accidental shooting.

“The tribunal decided to hand the defendant the maximum sentence of accidental shooting due to his recklessness and negligence in handling a weapon, which resulted in the death of his wife,” the Criminal Court ruled in May.

The defendant was standing trial on charges of shooting his 28-year-old wife of 10-years of marriage with a pump-action gun while at their home on May 21.

The court said the couple would often experience regular marital problems and the victim would return to her family’s home for a while and back to her husband’s home.

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, the defendant bought a pump-action gun and gave it to his sister to give to his wife to hide.

When the defendant returned home, the court maintained, he asked his wife for the weapon and she gave it to him.

“While the defendant was playing with the weapon thinking it was empty a bullet was accidentally discharged, striking his wife in the neck,” the six-page verdict said.

The defendant screamed for help and one of his neighbours called the ambulance, the court said.

The woman was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead on arrival, the court added.

The attorney general had contested the Criminal Court ruling, stating that the court did not “thoroughly question the prosecution witnesses in the case, including the victim’s mother who testified that the victim was constantly quarrelling with her husband”.

The attorney general also argued that the defendant bought the weapon and kept it in the house a few months prior to the incident “which means that he plotted to murder his wife.”

The Criminal Court, he added, should have amended the premeditated murder charges to manslaughter “if it had been convinced that the defendant did not plot the murder and not change the charge to accidental shooting”.

However, the Cassation Court, which issued its ruling recently, said it concluded that the defendant brought the weapon on the day of the murder and “he did not quarrel with his wife.”

“The fact that he called for neighbours’ help to rescue his wife is an indication that he had no intention of murdering her,” the Cassation Court ruled.

Therefore, the higher court maintained, the Criminal Court’s ruling falls within the law and its proceedings were proper.

The Cassation Court tribunal comprised judges Mahmoud Ababneh, Basel Abu Anzeh, Yassin Abdullat, Mohammad Tarawneh and Basil Mubeidin.

AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) is "fully responsible" for the crack in Abdullah Ghosheh Street, Jordan Engineers Association President (JEA) Majid Tabba charged Sunday.

Drilling at a construction site where a commercial complex is being built caused the crack, according to GAM, which sent an official letter to the owner of the site, including engineering reports regarding the method and duration needed to fix the crack.

A JEA statement quoted Tabba as saying that the blueprints of the project that caused the crack were not referred to the JEA for accreditation as per procedure.

The under-construction building in question, he said, is a 12-storey commercial complex.

Amman Central Traffic Department Director Col. Bassem Kharabsheh told The Jordan Times on Saturday that traffic direction will be reversed on the unaffected side of the street, heading towards the airport road, to accommodate traffic coming from that road.

Raed Haddadin, director of the building control department at GAM, said in a statement that the construction site obtained all the required approvals, noting that road closures are around 150 metres long, with the damage estimated to extend for around 80 metres.

Tabba blamed GAM for "failure in monitoring construction schemes" as stipulated in its regulations and the law on building, according to the JEA statement.

AMMAN — King’s Military Adviser and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Gen. Mashal Al Zaben on Sunday met with French Ambassador to Jordan David Bertolotti, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

At the meeting attended by HRH Prince Faisal, Zaben and Bertolotti discussed regional developments and military coordination.

AMMAN — The Lower House on Sunday endorsed the 2015 draft domanial money collection law, removing a provision imposing a 9 per cent fine annually on unpaid dues, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Lawmakers also renamed the bill to become the draft public money collection law despite opposition by some MPs who cited the bill’s “established history”.

The law, as mentioned in its validating reasons, aims at facilitating the process of collecting money that individuals and institutions owe to the state as well as increasing public funds through imposing fines on unpaid dues, according to Petra.

AMMAN — Senate President Faisal Fayez on Sunday met separately with two delegations from the Trade Union for Workers in Mining and Metal Industries and the Jordanian Geologists Association, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During the meetings,Fayez stressed the Senate’s interest in communicating with unions and professional associations, commending their role in developing society. 

AMMAN — Interior Minister Salameh Hammad on Sunday met with Canadian Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister John McCallum and an accompanying delegation, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

They discussed regional developments, especially in regard to the Syrian crisis and its repercussions on Jordan, in addition to Canada’s preparations to take in a number of Syrian refugees from Jordan.

The two ministers discussed enhancing bilateral cooperation, especially in political and security fields. Hammad praised the Canadian role in receiving refugees. McCallum commended Jordan’s role in hosting Syrian refugees and the services offered by the Interior Ministry to facilitate their move to Canada.