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AMMAN — MASE, a Jordan-based regional clean energy developer and installer has won the Middle East Solar Industry Association’s (MESIA) award for 2015 “Rooftop Solar Project” for a multi-household project comprising rooftop solar photovoltaic cell installations for 400 low-income households across Jordan.

The project received the award last Thursday at the MESIA Solar Awards 2015 in Dubai, according to a MASE statement. The Rooftop Solar Project is being implemented by MASE under an agreement with the Energy Ministry, the statement said.

AMMAN — The criminal court prosecutor on Sunday charged a 46-year-old security guard with the attempted murder of his teenage daughter in an Amman neighbourhood a day earlier, police and official sources said.

The 13-year-old victim, who could not be identified because of her age, received burns over 70 per cent of her body after her father reportedly set her ablaze at their home in Jabal Qusour, a senior judicial source said.

The suspect allegedly ran away from his house and was later arrested by the police, Public Security Department Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

In his initial testimony in front of Criminal Court Prosecutor Salah Taleb, the suspect claimed that he had no intention of murdering his daughter, according to the judicial source.

The suspect claimed that his daughter went missing from home for a few hours and “when she returned he slapped her on the face to discipline her and she fell on the kerosene heater and her body caught fire,” the judicial source said.

The suspect claimed that he wrapped her in a blanket in an attempt to extinguish the fire and that “his brothers who lived in the same building rushed to help him,” the judicial source added.

However, a senior official source told The Jordan Times that the victim told police in hospital before her condition deteriorated that “her father set her ablaze.”

“The criminal prosecutor is still unable to take the victim’s testimony because her condition is critical and deteriorating,” the official source said.

He added that Taleb issued orders to summon the suspect’s brothers to verify his story.

“The witnesses will help the investigators determine whether the suspect intentionally set his daughter on fire or if it was accidental,” the source noted.

The judicial source said the suspect informed investigators that he was tried and acquitted at the Criminal Court in 2008 on charges of burning and killing another daughter.

“Saleh will review the old case to verify the suspect’s claims and also check his record to determine if he had previous convictions or other violations,” the judicial source added. 

The security guard had divorced his wife and the only other resident in their house is his only son, according to Sartawi.

"The 16-year-old son was not at home when the incident occurred," he added. 

Kais Koussous, head of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, told The Jordan Times that the woman was referred to Prince Hamzeh Hospital and is listed in critical condition.

“Usually burns on over 40 per cent of the body for someone the victim’s age constitute a grave threat to their life,” Koussous said.

Taleb issued orders for the suspect to be detained at Marka Detention Centre for 15 days pending further investigation and questioning of more witnesses.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah, the Supreme Commander of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army, on Sunday visited army headquarters, according to a Royal Court statement.

The King was received by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Gen.

Mashal Al Zaben, HRH Prince Feisal and senior army officers. His Majesty discussed several issues concerning the army with Zaben.

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Sunday decided to appoint Omar Zu'bi as companies comptroller, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. Also on Sunday, the Council of Ministers decided to appoint 200 people with Sharia (Islamic law) qualifications as imams, according to Petra.

The decision is part of the Awqaf Ministry's strategy to address the shortage of mosque employees.

The Cabinet had authorised the Awqaf Ministry to take the necessary measures to address the lack of employees in 2014 and 2015 by appointing 1,473 imams and other workers.

The ministry, during those two years, also appointed 207 people to deliver sermons, 109 preachers, and 300 BA holders from Sharia faculties to spread the peaceful image of Islam.

AQABA — Although encouraging tourism in Aqaba is important for the economy, projects in the logistics industry create more jobs and have more added value to the economy, according to one investor in the port city.

Sheldon Fink, chairman and CEO of PBI Aqaba International Industrial Estate (AIIE), said Sharm El Sheikh was the model for the Red Sea resort when the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) was first established. However, “the vision changed two years ago.”

Citing the AIIE as an example, Fink said his company invested $300 million leading to the creation of 1,000 jobs, while there are projects in other sectors in Aqaba worth $2 billion in investments that do not create this number of jobs.

AIIE is a destination for manufacturing, logistics, storage, renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives, and related services. The location is developed and managed by PBI Aqaba.

“So, if you want to have an effective way where the country does not have so much money, projects in… logistics create more jobs than other sectors, and more added value to the economy than real estate and tourism,” the PBI CEO said in a recent meeting with the press.

“We helped in advocating this approach and showed it is successful to use this model.”

The company, which started its investment in Aqaba in 2005, is expanding with hopes to attract more investors from China, according to Fink.

“We sold about 800,000 square metres [sq.m.] of land. About half of that is built up and operating, while the rest is either in the process or reserved and held by the existing companies,” he explained, noting that PBI Aqaba will be marketing another 600,000 sq.m. over the next four years.

The company also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Aqaba Development Company to obtain another 1 million sq.m. for development in the south of Aqaba. “We have now about 1,000 people working here and when we are fully developed, we will have about 2,500, and then in the south, eventually we will have another 2,500,” the investor noted.

Current investments in AIIE stand at $300 million and when “it is finished we will have up to $600 million” and then in the south there will be another $600 million, Fink said.  

The government has received about $30 million from the company in revenues.

Fink said 65 per cent of the employees in the companies within the AIIE are Jordanians although under ASEZA law “we can have up to 70 per cent foreign workers and 30 per cent Jordanians.” 

Turning to PBI Aqaba's future plans and investments in AIIE, the CEO said most of the expansions in 2016 and 2017 will be for Chinese companies, although in the past two years they were for Syrian and Libyan firms. 

“They will continue there but will not be the biggest companies.”

Although Jordan is the safest place in the region, an issue that the company uses to attract investors and more projects to Aqaba, there are some “problems” that if solved, will double investments, according to Fink. 

One of these problems, he emphasised is “old-fashioned laws” which are "not helpful" in attracting foreign investments compared to the laws in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

In Jordan “you can’t make a contract to buy and sell land except at the land registry office when you are prepared to pay the money to finish the transaction,” Fink said.

BAPTISM SITE — Jordan is a unique example of Muslims and Christians living together in peace, Bishop Munib A. Younan said on Sunday.

Younan, president of the Lutheran World Federation and head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, described celebrating the approach of Christmas as a national day that brings Muslims and Christians side-by-side. 

He made the remarks during the lighting of a 12-metre Christmas tree at the Baptism Site, located some 40km west of Amman.

Tourism Minister Nayef Al Fayez and Amman Mayor Aqel Biltaji attended the ceremony. 

“It is a national feast where Muslims and Christians of all Jordanian sectors come from churches and from the mosques,” Younan told The Jordan Times during the celebration.

Organised by the Lutheran Church in Jordan, the event included a meeting that brought together representatives of the Lutheran sect from around the world for the first time in Jordan, Baptism Site Commission Director Diaa Madani said. 

He noted that the Baptism Site is the right place to host such a celebration because of its religious value. 

“It is one of the holiest sites in the world for Christians. It is where Jesus Christ was baptised by John the Baptist,” Madani added. 

Younan said the site, also known as Bethany Beyond the Jordan, is the centre of the "biblical story". 

The site was recently inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List — becoming the fifth Jordanian location to receive this honour. 

“What the world needs is a message of peace based on justice and especially justice for Jerusalem because there cannot be justice in the world without justice for Jerusalem,” Younan added.

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania received the First Lady of Gabon Sylvia Bongo Ondimbawho in Amman on Sunday. 

During the meeting, Her Majesty and Ondimba, who is currently visiting Jordan, discussed areas of cooperation and mutual interest, particularly initiatives launched by the Queen to improve education in Jordan, as well all the government’s efforts in this regard, according to a statement from Her Majesty's office.

AMMAN — The military announced on Sunday that it had received 232 Syrian refugees during the previous 72 hours and sent them to shelters and camps. 

Royal Medical Services cadres treated the ill and injured, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

AMMAN — Attendees of the Jerusalem Endowment Fund’s meeting held in Amman on Friday called for unifying efforts and donor funds to support the steadfastness of Jerusalemites, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

They praised Jordan’s efforts under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah to stop all Israeli schemes and defend Jerusalem in all international platforms, supporting and helping Palestinians in the occupied city and protecting Islamic and Christian holy sites. 

Speaking at the meeting, attended by senior officials and journalists, Saudi Prince Turki Al Faisal commended Jordan’s role in defending the Palestinian cause and said Islamic and Christian efforts should be unified to defend holy sites in Palestine, noting that it is a shared responsibility. 

For his part, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Jassim Al Thani stressed the importance of supporting Jerusalemites’ resilience in the face of the injustice of Israeli forces. 

The chairman of the fund’s board, Munib R. Masri, said Jerusalem should be supported in order to rise and “forever” remain Palestine’s capital, noting that it is facing the expanding Israeli occupation, land theft, isolation from other Palestinian lands, change to its demographic status quo and Judaisation attempts.

Awqaf Minister Hayel Dawood commended the efforts of the fund, which is going to implement practical programmes to offer investment projects to Jerusalemites, whom he described as the poorest of all Palestinians. 

A member of the fund’s board, Ahmad Ruwaidi, said it aims at encouraging Palestinians and Arabs to invest in the holy city, the income of which will be used to ensure self-sufficiency in light of hard economic conditions, Petra reported.

The JD100 million fund was created by the University of Jordan, Al Quds University and the Munib R. Masri Development Foundation earlier this year to advance scientific research and rebuild Jerusalem. 

AMMAN — Despite constituting a large portion of society in Jordan, women have a minor presence in boardrooms and in senior decision-making positions, according to a new report.

Conducted by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), the “Gender Diversity in Jordan” report said women represent 15.6 per cent of the labour force in the Kingdom. 

Yet in publicly listed companies, where the average board size is eight members, only 3.54 per cent of board members are women, and women hold only 21 per cent of senior decision-making positions. 

Of the 237 publicly held companies, 185 (78 per cent) have no women on their boards, the study said. 

In private shareholding companies, the report added that only 9.1 per cent of board members are women, and women chair 2.56 per cent of companies. Of the 930 companies, 717 (77 per cent) have no women on their boards. 

“These statistics are some of the lowest in the world, even compared to other Middle Eastern countries,” the publication said, adding that by contrast, the percentage of females in top management positions in high-income countries is 23 per cent and can be up to over 30 per cent in countries such as the Philippines.

The research posted on the IFC website demonstrates the degree of involvement by women in boardrooms and senior decision-making positions in the corporate world; the value of their presence when they are involved in those positions; and some of the challenges that women face in reaching such decision-making positions.

According to the IFC report, one of the key corporate governance challenges “we observed in Jordan and the Middle East” is that the composition of boards appears to be ad hoc, in that a variety of social, political and cultural influences plays a large part in determining board membership, when greater emphasis should be placed on independence of directors and diversity in the boardroom. 

“Most Jordanian companies are family businesses, so choosing board members is primarily based on personal relationships and not on the organisation’s need or professionalism, and accordingly such businesses do not recognise the importance of separating ownership and management — until crises happen,” the report added. 

According to the study, there is a connection between gender diversity and the financial performance of companies. 

Improved diversity, it said, ensures greater effort across the board and provides for a mix of leadership skills.