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AMMAN — The Lower House Education Committee met on Sunday with cultural attaches in the Kingdom and a group of Arab students in Jordan, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In the meeting, chaired by MP Bassam Btoush and attended by Higher Education Ministry Secretary General Hani Dmour, Btoush stressed the importance of cultural cooperation through student exchange programmes.

The students spoke about the problems they face, especially complicated measures and instructions that hinder registration at universities. Dmour promised to follow up on the issues with concerned universities.

ZAATARI REFUGEE CAMP — The EU has allocated 28 million euros (around JD22 million) to meet the urgent needs of Syrian refugees in their host communities in Jordan, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides said Sunday. 

“Of course early in the next year, we will be ready to announce additional funding for Jordan and for refugees here,” Stylianides told reporters during a visit to the Zaatari Refugee Camp, some 90km northeast of Amman.

“Jordan… is a key partner for the European Union. We are deeply committed to continue this fruitful relationship,” he added. 

With the aid package announced Sunday, the total amount of humanitarian assistance provided by the EU since the start of the Syrian crisis is now 198 million euros, an EU statement said. 

The main objective of the new funding will be to help partner organisations prepare the most vulnerable refugee families for winter by providing cash assistance for heating, blankets and household items. 

The extra funding will also cover the basic needs of refugees and host communities, such as rent, healthcare and education, according to the statement.

Stylianides stressed that humanitarian assistance alone cannot put an end to Syrians’ enormous suffering. 

“Only a political solution can bring the Syria crisis to an end,” he said.

The EU commissioner met with a number of Syrian refugees residing in the camp and in Mafraq city who benefited from EU assistance, and listened to their concerns. 

Some of the refugees mentioned their desire to either leave for Europe or to return to Syria.

Stylianides also visited Oxfam’s community centre at the camp, where he watched a trailer for the documentary “District Zero”, produced by Oxfam with support from the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department. 

“District Zero” follows the story of Maamun, a Syrian refugee who runs a mobile phone shop in the Zaatari camp, currently home to 79,284 refugees according to UNHCR, and helps his peers print out photos of happier times, according to Oxfam’s website.

Refugees who took part in film attended the meeting with the EU official, who praised Jordan’s efforts in supporting refugees. 

“Let me once again commend Jordan’s incredible hospitality. In particular, I want to commend the host communities, as we know they are hosting over 630,000 Syrian refugees,” the commissioner said.    

Abu Saed, who was among the Syrians that met with the EU official, called on the international community to support Jordan because “it is shouldering a heavy burden and has limited capabilities”.

Abu Saed, who has been in Jordan for three years, told The Jordan Times he wants to return to Syria despite the dangerous situation there.

“The lack of assistance provided is the reason behind my decision.  However, the EU official told me not to be in a hurry to go, because the EU will intensify its support,” he added. 

Mamoun Wadi, who has been in the camp for two years after leaving Daraa, Syria, said he does not plan to travel to Europe as many refugees have done recently.  

“Those who have no family are the ones who want to go to Europe. In the past, people believed that it would take them only three months to bring their family members to Europe, but the reality is totally different, because it would take more than a year to do so,” he explained.

AMMAN – Inspectors from the Ministry of Public Sector Development recently made an unannounced visit to the Foreign Ministry’s affiliated office for attesting certificates and found that the quality of services offered to the public was still below expectations. 

In their report, a copy of which was made available to The Jordan Times, the inspectors said employees did not give customers enough attention. 

The office was moved from Amman’s 1st Circle to Shmeisani earlier this year because the previous premises, in a basement, were described as unsuitable for offering the required services and could not satisfy customers.

The public sector development specialists noted that there were 12 windows to offer services to the public at the new office, but only four were manned by staff, resulting in long queues. 

Customers were subjected to further long queues after finishing the first step of attesting their certificates, because they had to go around to the office’s back doors to complete their transactions, the report said.

The office management made no efforts to facilitate and speed up services to the public, the inspectors said, adding that the management did not enforce auto queue procedures, although there was an electronic device for this purpose. 

No special access was offered for people with disabilities and the elderly, the report said, noting that the waiting area was not large enough to accommodate the number of customers. 

A box for complaints was available but no forms were provided, the report added. 

The Ministry of Public Sector Development has been carrying out unannounced visits to various government agencies for over three years to monitor performance and submit reports to the prime minister and other relevant ministers.

AMMAN — Comedians and artists joined forces at a show on Saturday titled “Blissteria”, which aimed to spread positive feelings among Arab audiences and demonstrate comedy’s importance in delivering social and political messages to the public.

Performers sought to “raise awareness” of issues that are usually “ignored” or “misunderstood” in society by presenting everyday problems in a comic way, according to the organisers of the event, which was arranged by Bliss Radio 104.3 and held at Amman’s Cultural Palace.

Adi Khalefa, a Palestinian comedian, used his performance to mock the absurdities of life under the Israeli occupation, including the daily struggles of Palestinians trying to pass checkpoints and obtain rare and randomly provided access passes to religious sites.

He also talked about the difficulty of travelling as an Arab, especially after September 11.

“Because I’m an Arab, whenever I have a trip to the US, I book 15 days at the hotel and four at the airport,” he joked, in reference to the lengthy airport security checks.

Wissam Tubeileh, a Jordanian actor and comedian, told The Jordan Times that comedians try to convey a message about “social issues that affect people in a negative way, like shooting guns during weddings”.

Tubeileh said the social problems faced by Jordanians are obvious, but nobody talks about them, hence the valuable role of comedy in raising awareness.

“Comedy is a light-hearted thing, but you can convey strong messages using light comedy, especially on stage, because on stage you can say anything you want,” he said.

For Maz Jobrani, an Iranian-American, comedy has been his way of questioning political and cultural norms.

As a Muslim of Middle Eastern descent and a father of two living in the US, Jobrani decided to incorporate commentary on race and religion into his comedy routines and try and spread a positive image of the region.

“I started doing comedy 17 years ago in Los Angeles. I tackled issues like racism and people took it very positively,” the comedian told The Jordan Times.

Jobrani noted that although American audiences had not encountered comedy like this before, he felt that “we are all the same when it comes to political problems... a lot of people can relate to my comedy because they face similar issues.”

He cited the generation gap as an example, and the distance between modern and traditional ways of raising children.

“So the modern way would be like: son, how do you feel about [hitting your sister]? What does she feel about it? What do you think we should do? So what do you think about the Chinese economic crisis?

“My dad would be like: I’m going to count to three, if you’re not in by then you’ll sleep outside with the wolves,” he joked.

“I believe that laughing brings us together to also break some stereotypes — but we have to check first if we are guilty of them as well.”

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Sunday met with Senate President Faisal Fayez and voiced the government’s interest to sustain cooperation with the Senate to implement Royal visions and directives.

Ensour highlighted the government’s commitment to enhancing the partnership between the executive and legislative authorities, in accordance with the Constitution, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Fayez voiced the Senate’s readiness to cooperate with the government in the service of higher national interests.

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Sunday endorsed the executive development programme and the governorate development programmes for the period between 2016 and 2018.

During a Council of Ministers meeting, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury said the 2016-2018 programme is the first stage in implementing the Jordan 2025 economic blueprint, comprising around 25 development sectors, 121 executive entities, 1,826 capital projects and 578 indicators for follow-up and assessment.

The programme is the basis in determining priority projects and preparing the state budget that will be endorsed within the coming few days, he added, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Sunday approved appointing Khalid Lahham as director general of the Jordan Post Company (JPC).

The decision was based on a recommendation from the JPC’s board of directors and came after accepting Lahham’s resignation as secretary general of the Ministry of Public Sector Development, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

AMMAN — The Lower House Legal Committee on Sunday held a meeting with president and members of the Independent Elections Commission (IEC) to discuss the new elections bill. Committee Chairman MP Mustafa Amawi said the commission is a main partner in reaching a modern elections law.

IEC President Riyadh Shakaa said the commission must accept any elections law that goes through the proper constitutional channels, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. Shakaa provided the panel with a list of suggested amendments to the bill related to administrative issues. 

AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) has floated a tender for the installation of new cameras in different locations across the capital and other cities with the aim of curbing traffic violations and ensuring public safety, a GAM official said Saturday.

Mohammad Faouri, director of joint management at GAM, said the JD4.6 million tender was floated in September and the deadline for receiving bids is mid-November. 

“The project will entail installing cameras in Amman and other cities in the Kingdom. The municipality will cover JD1.6 million. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs will take care of the remaining JD3 million for other cities,” he told The Jordan Times. 

Twenty cameras will be installed on traffic lights and fixed radars in Amman, according to Faouri, while 95 cameras will be installed outside the capital. 

Earlier this year, GAM began operating 22 cameras to ensure public safety and organise traffic flow.

The GAM official noted that the new cameras will have the same purpose as the existing ones, recording various traffic violations such as failure to use seatbelts, expired car licences, speeding, driving in the wrong lane, using mobile phones while driving and crossing red lights. 

“The new cameras will also monitor the distance between vehicles on the street. We noticed that the areas where cameras were installed have recorded a drop in the number of violations and accidents. Some areas witnessed a 60 per cent drop in accidents,” he added. 

Central Traffic Department Director Col. Yaser Harahsheh told The Jordan Times that the department chooses the locations of the cameras. 

AMMAN — Orange Jordan has partnered with UNICEF, the Orange Foundation and its e-learning programme vendor, e-Learment to launch its Digital Schools Programme in Jordan, which will deliver free educational content in digital format to several UNICEF-operated education centres in the Kingdom, an Orange Jordan statement said Saturday.

The programme designed low-cost servers that housed the regularly updated educational content, which can be accessed remotely via WiFi connection and a web browser.

In Jordan, the programme will deliver digital school kits to five educational centres operated by UNICEF Jordan as part of its Makani (My Space) initiative, which aims to reach 90,000 boys and girls in Jordan who are excluded from any form of education and exposed to child labour.