Local

AMMAN — Traffic violations and accidents in the capital have witnessed a 65 per cent decrease since the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) installed cameras in several areas, Mohammad Faouri, director of joint management at GAM said on Wednesday. 

There are around 19 already installed camera units in Amman, including mobile and fixed-radar units, under a plan that started in 2004. 

Encouraged by the results, GAM is currently working on installing more cameras in other areas.

It plans to float a tender to install camera units in cooperation with the Public Security Department and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, the GAM official said. 

“The municipality’s proposal is based on its experience in traffic management,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

“Using cameras and automated surveillance has helped in better management of several ‘black spots’ in Amman. In the outcome, the death and injury rates from road accidents have dropped by 65 per cent in Amman,” the official said. 

He added: “Car accidents have increased in the country as the vehicle numbers are on a rise, yet the number of road accident victims has dropped. There is a huge difference when the motorist is driving at 100 km/h and at 60km/h — thanks to the cameras.”

Around 20 extra cameras are to be installed in the capital in areas that record the highest numbers of road accidents, according to Faouri. 

NEW YORK – A US appeals court ruled on Tuesday that thousands of non-US citizens could not pursue claims against Arab Bank Plc for providing support to militant groups behind attacks in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York upheld a 2013 ruling that dismissed lawsuits against the Jordan-based bank, which a jury last year found liable for providing material support for Hamas in a trial pursued by Americans.

Foreign victims of attacks they attributed to Hamas and other groups argued that a US Supreme Court ruling later in 2013 meant the trial judge’s ruling was based on precedent that was no longer “good law”.

But the three-judge panel upheld the ruling by US District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn, saying the appellate ruling he relied on “remains the law of this circuit”.

US Circuit Judge Robert Sack wrote  that the panel came to that conclusion even though the Supreme Court’s decision appeared to provide for corporate liability under the Alien Tort Statute, a 1789 law often used for pursuing human rights abuse claims.

Sack said a “growing consensus” exists among other appellate courts to that effect, and the 2010 2nd Circuit ruling Cogan relied on construing the statute as not allowing corporations to be sued “now appears to swim alone against the tide”.

But he said even if the panel agreed that corporate liability exists, it was not free to overrule the law set by a prior panel.

Michael Elsner, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he was disappointed with the decision and was examining a possible appeal.

Arab Bank said the ruling affected claims by more than 6,000 plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs accused Arab Bank of financing terrorism by providing services to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the     Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and others behind attacks in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip from 1995 to 2005.

The ruling came after Arab Bank agreed in August to settle lawsuits by about 500 US citizens who sued it under the US Anti-Terrorism Act, which permits US citizens to pursue claims arising from international terrorism.

The settlement was reached ahead of a damages trial, after a federal jury in September 2014 found it liable in connection with two dozen attacks attributed to Hamas.

The verdict marked the first time a bank was held liable in US court for violating that law.

AMMAN – The border closure between Jordan and Iraq has caused Jordanian manufacturers losses estimated at hundreds of millions, according to Director General of the Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI) Maher Mahrouq. 

Mahrouq told The Jordan Times Wednesday that the 7.3 per cent drop in the value of national exports to JD3.6 billion in the first three quarters of this year from around JD3.9 billion registered in the same period of last year was mainly due to the closure of the border crossing between the Kingdom and  trouble-hit Iraq. 

He indicated that part of the drop in the value of exports was also attributed to the ongoing trouble in Syria.

Mahrouq also noted that closure of the Iraqi market may have been positive for local manufacturers, which experienced higher sales in the domestic market, adding that industrial production went up by 2 per cent in November. 

Authorities in Baghdad decided to close the entry at  the Turaibil/Karameh border crossing between Jordan and Iraq in mid-July until further notice due to security troubles in Anbar province, where government forces are fighting  the Daesh terror group. 

Sector representatives say the Iraqi market used to absorb around 20 per cent of Jordan’s exports. 

The JCI director said Iraq used to be the main market for products made in Jordan, adding that the industrial sector is currently working to penetrate new markets outside the region. 

He cited African markets as an option with “great potential” for Jordanian industrialists, urging the government to “boost Jordan’s diplomatic representation in the continent”. 

“Jordan has always been ahead of regional competitors in terms of new business ideas but we always lag behind when it comes to implementation,” he added. 

Mahrouq said there would be cooperation with local and foreign development partners to study the outlook for entering the African markets. 

AMMAN — The  chairman of Masaken, a Jordan-based real estate developer, on Wednesday bought 587,000 shares of his company after their value plummeted, causing Amman Stock    Exchange’s  traders millions in losses.

A statement by the company said  Hasan Ismaik’s move to buy the stocks “came in response to an appeal published in local newspapers by traders, who sought his intervention to save the company and strengthen its financial position”.

The Abu Dhabi-based businessman had acquired 37 per cent of Masaken’s JD12.2 million capital and announced plans to raise the capital to around JD700 million, a statement that led the stock price to rise to unprecedented levels.

The Jordan Securities Commission, the market regulator, had to intervene by slamming a 5 per cent up and down limit on the trading in the stock to avert any shocks.

The share price, however, collapsed to catastrophic levels when Masaken’s general assembly decided to only double the capital and its chairman announced plans to establish another company with JD700 million capital. 

Traders on the Amman Stock Exchange blamed these decisions for the losses, then published the appeal, asking Ismaik to salvage their positions  by buying the idle stocks.

In Wednesday’s statement, the businessman said he had “confidence in the company’s performance, plans and future outlook and its ability to generate revenues”.

Moreover, the statement said that the general assembly is expected to meet to revisit the decision to establish another company, adding that the plan now is to increase the capital of the existing company to more than JD700 million within five years.

AQABA — The construction process of the Saraya Aqaba real estate project is providing 3,000 job opportunities for the local community in the southern governorate of Aqaba, said Alaa Batayneh, the CEO of Eagle Hills Jordan.

"If the local community does not fill the whole number of jobs, then we will get guest workers," Batayneh told reporters during a briefing he presented on the project as part of a media tour organised by Eagle Hills this week.

The Abu Dhabi-based private real estate investment and development company focuses on the development of new city hubs in high-growth international markets and manages the project in Aqaba, some 330km south of Amman.

Batayneh noted that after the end of the project, another 2,000 job opportunities will also be available.

The CEO described the 634,000 square metre Saraya Aqaba project as a village incorporating business, cultural, social and family facilities that will meet all different tastes.

He announced the inauguration of its dedicated onsite sales centre, along with several completed residential mock-up units, which he called "an important part of this investment".

The project is expected to include more than 850 high-end residential units, in categories including grand villas, villas, grand and garden townhouses, apartments, beach club duplexes and lofts, according to a Saraya Aqaba statement.

Batayneh said sales have not started yet but will open soon.

He added that the project will also include four international hotels that will be managed by top international companies. The hotels will consist of a total of 1,115 rooms, around 800 of which are expected to be ready by the end of 2017.

Moreover, the CEO highlighted a conference centre that forms part of the project and is expected to accommodate around 2,000 visitors.

"These centres help revive the areas they are in," the former minister explained.

The Saraya Aqaba project will include retail facilities such as Souk Saraya, which is an urban lifestyle centre incorporating pedestrian-friendly zones and streetscapes. It consists of retail and commercial outlets, as well as restaurants, cafés and nightlife venues, according to the company statement.

Saraya Aqaba will also feature a number of leisure and entertainment facilities such as Aqaba’s first water park, an open-air amphitheatre, a sports park, a children's club, and a residents’ beach club, the statement said.

Last month, Saraya Aqaba partially filled its central lagoon, the statement added.

AMMAN — HRH Princess Sumaya, president of the Royal Scientific Society and chairperson of the board of trustees of Princess Sumaya University for Technology, met on Wednesday with Hatem Kawasmy, managing partners at KPMG Jordan-Kawasmy & Partners.

Discussions covered the role of major companies in raising students’ professional awareness and aiding them in planning for their future, especially when enrolling in finance and accounting specialities. 

AMMAN — The State Security Court on Wednesday sentenced three defendants to eight years in prison for conspiring to carry out criminal acts, in the case dubbed as “the Amman National and Ghamadan Park”.

The court found the defendants, who worked in renting horses for riding at the park, had collaborated to carry out several thefts at the facility, located on the airport road, using firearms and sharp tools, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The SSC also sentenced another three defendants to eight years in prison for conspiring to carry out criminal acts. The defendants had robbed three gas cylinder warehouses in east Amman.

AMMAN — The Central Traffic Department and highway patrols are currently carrying out an intensive campaign against motorists who use their mobile phones while driving, the Public Security Department (PSD) said on Wednesday.

The PSD called on motorists to abide by traffic rules and to avoid using mobile phones while driving.

AMMAN — The steering committee for the cluster development project in cultural and innovative industries in Jordan on Wednesday held a meeting at the Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO), a strategic partner in the project, a JEDCO statement said.

The meeting discussed this year’s work programme and the plan to support and finance targeted sectors in 2016. The programme aims at enhancing and supporting the competitiveness of innovative industries.

AMMAN — Fifty women from Mafraq have successfully completed a two-week UN Women training course on gender-based violence, a statement from the UN agency said Wednesday.

The aim of the training was to increase awareness about gender-based violence, women’s rights and local services, as well as other ways women and girls are abused, with a special focus on women’s rights in the workplace.

The training course took place at the Teachers Clubhouse in Mafraq and was funded by the government of Finland and the Italian Development Cooperation.

“Gender violence is a complex issue, whose roots lie deeply rooted in gender inequality and discrimination, especially in the work place,” the statement quoted Giuseppe Belsito, representative of the UN Women Country Office for Jordan, as saying. The training is part of a larger career counselling initiative promoted by UN Women in Mafraq.