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AMMAN — Public private partnerships are crucial to help turn Amman into a smart city, where technology is deployed to make peoples’ lives easier when it comes to finding parking spaces or avoiding traffic jams for instance, according to an Ericsson executive.

By deploying the latest technologies such as smart lighting, smart parking and other solutions, Amman can create several opportunities for application developers to create new apps to serve its visitors and residents, Mikael Back, global head of strategy development and portfolio management at the Sweden-based technology giant, told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

“Governments cannot do it alone. They need the cooperation and support of the private sector to turn their cities into smart ones,” Back said, stressing that the high mobile and Internet penetration in Jordan represent a cornerstone for swift transformation towards becoming smart.

By the end of June this year, the number of Internet users in Jordan reached 6.2 million, compared to 5.7 million at the same time last year, while mobile penetration reached 152 per cent, with some 12.3 million active mobile subscriptions, according to official figures.

More investment is needed in infrastructure as well to utilise smart solutions, Back added.

“The volume of data generated in each city, whether in terms of traffic data or any other data, can also be analysed to make better any future apps or solutions developed to serve users, which also create opportunities for new ideas and start-ups,” Back said, noting that heavy emphasis should be placed on security issues and protecting data.

In August, the ICT Ministry said it was working on a plan to turn the country’s governorates into “smart zones”. Agreements are expected to be signed soon with the Greater Amman Municipality and Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority to turn Amman and Aqaba into smart cities.

AMMAN — Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) personnel at Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) have arrested a passenger from South America who was reportedly carrying 2.5 kilogrammes of cocaine, the Public Security Department said Saturday.

AND cadres also apprehended two other suspects who were waiting to receive the drugs, a PSD statement said.

AND personnel received a tip-off that a person was planning to smuggle narcotics into the country through QAIA and deliver them to some people in the Kingdom, according to the PSD. 

Anti-narcotics agents were able to identify the suspect and the time of his arrival at QAIA, and monitored and tracked him until he met with two persons in a suburb in Amman to deliver a bag to them, the PSD said, adding that the three suspects were arrested.

A search revealed that the bag contained 2.5 kilogrammes of cocaine, the PSD noted, and the suspects are being questioned prior to referring them to court.

In another case earlier this month, the PSD said AND agents received information on a South American suspect allegedly planning to drop off drugs in Jordan.

They arrested the suspect upon his arrival at QAIA and searched his luggage, where they found 650 grammes of cocaine hidden in small metal pipes in one of his bags.

Further investigation revealed that two Arabs were supposed to receive the drugs from the suspect. AND agents located and arrested them, and referred the case to court.

AMMAN — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it is providing a loan of up to $14 million to the Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) to carry out an urgently needed upgrade of the sewerage network The loan seeks to ease the pressure caused by the refugee crisis in the Middle East, an EBRD statement said, adding that an estimated 1.4 million Syrians have fled to Jordan, mainly to the north of the country. 

"This equals almost 20 per cent of Jordan’s total population. This significant inflow puts a serious burden on the country’s resources and infrastructure." 

The supply of clean water and the treatment of wastewater are essential. Water is life, but in Jordan it is a scarce resource. In addition, the ageing infrastructure means serious water losses, especially in densely populated areas where the majority of refugees are temporarily housed, the statement noted. 

The EBRD has addressed this issue in the past with investments in the country’s water infrastructure. The new project will enable WAJ to construct a wastewater pipeline from the East Zarqa pumping station to As Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

Rehabilitating and upgrading the existing wastewater pipeline and related infrastructure will increase the network’s capacity to cope with the additional burden it now carries. It will also alleviate the risk of ground and surface water pollution in the Zarqa River area, according to the statement.

“The refugee crisis is one of the biggest international challenges at the moment and the EBRD is proud to make a contribution to alleviate the difficult situation. Our investment will address the question of water, a key issue for Jordan at any time and even more pressing under the current circumstances. The investments financed with our loan will contribute to a tangible improvement in wastewater treatment,”  EBRD Head of Office in Jordan Heike Harmgart said.

The loan is co-financed by an investment grant of $5.5 million from the EBRD’s Shareholder Special Fund, the statement said, adding that the EU Neighbourhood Investment Facility funded technical cooperation activities and environmental assessments and will support the implementation of environmental and social procedures as well as health and safety standards.

Jordan became an EBRD shareholder in 2012 and to date the bank has committed $475 million across 25 projects in various sectors of the economy, in addition to $95 million of trade facilitation credit lines with local banks. 

Through the EBRD’s Small Business Support the bank has also initiated 100 technical assistance capacity-building projects that directly benefit the country’s small- and medium-sized enterprises, according to the statement.

AMMAN — Tuesday, December 22, marks the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and the start of marbaniyeh in Jordan — the 40 coldest days of winter, Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) Director General Mohammad Samawi said Saturday, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

During the marbaniyeh — which will continue through January 30 — the country typically witnesses several depressions, while average temperatures in the capital range between a maximum of 12.7ºC and a minimum of 3.8ºC. Multiple depressions, very cold weather, and cold and dry easterly winds are characteristics of marbaniyeh, during which several frost spells take hold of the country due to the around-zero temperatures and very cold easterly winds.

AMMAN — The Grand Criminal Court has sentenced two young men to five-year prison terms after convicting them of attempted murder for stabbing another man in a brawl at a private university.

According to the verdict, the sentence was reduced from 10 years to five years after the victim’s family dropped charges, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The court exonerated a third suspect for lack of evidence.

AMMAN — Former minister of state for political affairs Daifallah Masaadeh was laid to rest in the northern town of Zmal on Saturday. Masaadeh, who was born in 1938, died on Friday, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour paid tribute to Masaadeh, who served as minister in 2000, and expressed condolences to his family.

AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury on Saturday met with Emirati Minister of State Sultan Al Jaber and discussed economic and development cooperation.

Fakhoury briefed Jaber on the comprehensive framework to respond to the effects of the Syrian crisis, noting it aims at developing programmes that would enable the Kingdom to secure enough funds for the 2016-2018 Jordan Response Plan, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Jaber expressed the United Arab Emirates’ keenness to support the Kingdom’s economy, according to Petra. Jaber participated in the inauguration of the Tafileh Wind Project last Thursday in his capacity as chairman of UAE Masdar Company, one of the main investors in the project.

AMMAN — Sameh Majali on Saturday won Karak’s 2nd District by-election, receiving 2,548 votes, said Sabah Nawaiseh, head of the Independent Elections Commission’s (IEC) polling committee in Al Qasr District. IEC Spokesperson Jihad Momani said the election went smoothly. The IEC detected three cases of impersonating citizens and those involved were referred to the prosecutor general, he added, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Nawaiseh said 7,000 voters cast their ballots in the by-election, held to fill the Karak seat left vacant after Deputy Eteiwi Majali passed away. The Civil Coalition for Monitoring Elections and the Performance of Elected Councils said it recorded 19 violations in the by-election, including cases of vote buying and an attempt to break into a school where voting was under way, Petra reported.

AMMAN — The National Centre for Energy Research is currently preparing tenders to implement renewable energy projects at 11 public and private institutions to provide 4 million kilowatt hours, which annually cost JD800,000, Walid Shaheen, president of the centre, said Saturday.

The scheme is implemented in cooperation with the Energy Ministry and partially financed by the EU, which provided a JD700,000 grant, with the benefiting institutions covering the rest of the cost, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The projects entail replacing old lighting units with more efficient ones and installing solar cell systems.

AMMAN — The government is obligated to draft regulations to ensure the welfare of children as stipulated in the Constitution, Social Development Minister Reem Abu Hassan said Saturday.

At the inauguration of the first childhood forum for kindergartens, the minister said early childhood is the best phase to instil positive values.

University of Jordan President Ekhleif Tarawneh said establishing kindergartens in accordance with the law is a catalyst for women to join the labour market, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. UJ’s faculty of educational sciences organised the forum.