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AMMAN — Zarqa Governor Raed Al Adwan on Wednesday met with a delegation from USAID and the Planning and International Cooperation Ministry and discussed services in the governorate and the effects of population growth on economic, health, education and public services sector.

Adwan said the rising number of Syrian refugees has led to an increase in unemployment among Jordanians as well crowding schoolrooms, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Adwan called for international donor countries to support educational and health institutions in Zarqa, along with municipalities, noting the number of Syrian refugees in Zarqa “exceeded 130,000”.

The delegates stressed the importance of overcoming obstacles and restoring the situation to its prior state of stability, Petra reported.

AMMAN — The government and tribes in Maeen and the Dead Sea area entered a legal dispute over a plot of land where a major tourism project is being constructed, just some 40 minutes drive southwest of Amman.

Tribes claim they own the land where the JD800 million Porto Dead Sea is being developed by the Cairo-based Amer Group, while the investment body says the land is state property.  

Work on the project started in April 2014. 

On Wednesday, President of the Jordan Investment Commission (JIC) Montaser Oqlah told The Jordan Times that tribes hold ownership deeds from the Ottoman period. 

Tribal lands, known in Jordan as “wajihat”, are state lands that were distributed among bedouin tribes during the Ottoman period to use for grazing and cultivation purposes 

A representative from the Abu Wandi tribe recently sent the developer a notice to evict, saying that a western Amman court issued a 2011 verdict in favour of the tribes and against the government by upholding the tribe’s ownership to the disputed property. 

The dispute, according to a copy of the notice that was made available to The Jordan Times, started in 1993 when the land was registered under the management of the Jordan Valley Authority. 

But Oqlah said the commission has recently challenged the court verdict as a third party, adding that the disputed 800 dunums  are owned by the state and the commission seeks that the verdict be reconsidered. 

“The issue is currently at the court and we trust our judicial system,” Oqlah said, insisting that the possession of Ottoman documents by the tribes does not mean they are the owners of the land. 

“The government will not allow any actions that will harm the reputation of the Kingdom and its investment environment,” he said. 

According to the development company, Porto Dead Sea consists of four five-star hotels, an international health and spa centre, three malls, and 11,000 apartments. 

The company says the project will contribute significantly to the development of the Dead Sea area and increase Jordan’s hotel capacity by 25 per cent.

Set to be ready by 2019, Amer Group states that the first phase of is scheduled for completion in 2016.

AMMAN — The government on Wednesday decided to lower prices of some fuel derivatives and increase prices of others as of Thursday.

Under the decision, issued by Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Maha Ali, one litre of unleaded 90-octane gasoline will be sold for JD0.555 in October, down from JD 0.560 in September. The price of one litre of unleaded 95-octane gasoline will drop from JD 0.725 to JD0.720.

On the other hand, the price of one litre of diesel and kerosene will go up to JD0.410 from JD0.405, according to a ministry statement sent to The Jordan Times.

Under the new pricing list, the price of the 12-kilogramme gas cylinder, used for cooking and, in winter, for heating, will go down to JD7 from JD7.25.

A government pricing committee meets monthly to adjust prices in a manner that corresponds to changes in oil prices on the international market.

Prices of oil derivatives in the local market are calculated based on international oil prices, taking into account other costs such as shipment, handling and taxes.

In recent remarks to The Jordan Times, an industry source expected prices of oil derivatives in the domestic market to increase by 3 to 4 per cent at the end of September. 

The source, who requested to remain anonymous, said the expected increase in prices of main fuel products would be a reflection of the slight recovery in prices of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark.

AMMAN – Shifting the industrial sector’s energy consumption trends will be the highlight of a forum slated to be held later this year in a bid to encourage better utilisation of renewable power.

Deemed the third largest energy consumer in Jordan — 17 per cent of the national power consumption — the industrial sector’s energy bill stood at nearly JD4.4 billion in 2014, an amount experts hope to decrease through more reliance on renewable energy resources by industrialists. 

“This will be the main aim of the forum, which will bring together presidents and members of local industry chambers and bodies concerned with energy and environmental sustainability,” said Ayman Hatahet, president of the Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI), on Wednesday.

He made his remarks during a press conference to announce the details of the conference, titled “Energise Jordan 2015”, which is organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and the German Development Cooperation (GIZ).

The one-day event, to be held on November 17, will provide a platform to discuss solutions to the industrial sector’s energy challenges and announce the official opening of the chamber’s energy and environmental sustainability unit, according to Hatahet.

The unit was established earlier this year with the support of the USAID Jordan Competitiveness Programme in response to difficulties facing the sector in the areas of energy, water and the environment. 

“Participants at the forum will be acquainted with the best international practices in renewable energy and optimal utilisation of renewable power resources,” noted head of the conference’s preparatory committee, Eyad Abu Haltam. 

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ibrahim Saif said the forum will be an invitation to the private sector to reduce its electricity expenses as it consumes 24 per cent of the total electricity consumption in the Kingdom.

“We expect to discuss very innovative energy solutions during the forum,” he said. 

Organisers noted that taskforces will be formed to follow up on the recommendations and outcomes of the forum, to be held annually. 

The development counsellor at the German embassy, Nina Lutter, said the German government is keen to provide support to Jordan to move yet another step forward in exploiting solar energy as a “sun-blessed country”, stressing the important role the private sector can play in this area as a driving force for sustainable businesses. 

At the same time, GIZ Country Director in Jordan Michaela Baur noted that the agency is supporting several ventures in the Kingdom to help it better respond to climate change and contribute to realising the country’s international obligations in the area.  

AMMAN — The company developing Jordan’s first oil shale power plant has secured $17 billion but will seek a government extension on the October 1 deadline to finalise “routine procedures” to secure financing for the project.

The Attarat Power Company (APCO) has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, with a guarantee from state-owned China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure), to obtain a $1.7 billion loan to finance the plant.

“The rest of the funding needed for the plant will be provided by stakeholders in the project… Now that we have secured the majority of the money needed for the project, a few more routine procedures are required before a final deal is reached with the lenders and before construction starts,” he said.

The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Enefit Jordan BV, which is itself owned by Enefit (Estonia’s Eesti Energia AS), Malaysia’s YTL Power International Berhad and Jordan’s Near East
INVESTMENTS Limited. 

The $2.2 billion, 470-megawatt (MW) project is expected to be operational in the second half of 2018, as stipulated in a deal signed with the Jordanian government in 2014.

The consortium recently expressed concern over its abilty to secure financing for the project after many agencies, including the International Finance Corporation, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Islamic Development Bank, among others, either rejected applications for funding or showed no interest in financing the project. 

The project, anticipated to create 3,000 direct jobs during the construction phase and 700 jobs for ongoing operations, is expected to utilise Jordan’s vast reserves of oil shale, estimated at more than 70 billion tonnes.

The energy sector has been central to the economic reforms in the Kingdom, as Jordan currently imports around 97 per cent of its energy requirements, as the National Electricity Power Company  ran a JD3.45 billion a deficit in 2014, and an outstanding debt to the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company at JD558 million. 

AMMAN — Jordan ranked 7th most competitive Arab country in the latest economic index, scoring as high as 25th globally on availability of engineers and scientists but as low as 142 out of 144 countries on ratio of women to men in the labour force. 

Similar to last year, Jordan ranked 64 worldwide in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2015-2016 Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), according to the report released on Wednesday. 

The Kingdom, which was categorised as “efficiency driven”, registered an overall score of 4.2 out of 7 possible points across the 12 pillars and some 120 subcategories used in the report to measure the economic competitiveness of countries.

Jordan achieved the highest scores in the health and primary education (6) and higher education and training (4.7) pillars, while its lowest scores were in the macroeconomic environment, technological readiness, market size and innovation (3.7).

The WEF identified difficulty in accessing financing, an inadequately educated workforce, policy instability, tax rates, restrictive labour regulations and inefficient government bureaucracy as the major problematic factors facing businesses in Jordan.

Commenting on Jordan’s performance in the report, economist Maen Ensour said it was “unacceptable” for Jordan not to move up the ranking list as some countries ranked below Jordan in previous years have registered higher ranks this year. 

He stressed the need for a “comprehensive” governmental plan, including suggestions from the private sector, to improve the Kingdom’s performance in all pillars, not only the lagging ones. “The plan has to be translated into applicable programmes,” he said. 

Ensour, who is also a former Social Security Corporation director, added that the 2015 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook and the World Bank’s Doing Business Report 2015 have come to similar conclusions.     

“Enhancing competitiveness will directly impact living standards and development levels,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone.

In the subcategory of representation of women in the labour force, Jordan ranked 138 out of 140, while in the subcategory of strength of investor protection, the Kingdom ranked 121. 

Switzerland, Singapore, the United States and Germany headed the WEF’s list, while Guinea ranked last, preceded by Chad and Mauritania.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries came highest in the Arab world on the list, with Qatar ranked 14, followed by the United Arab Emirates (17), Saudi Arabia (25), Kuwait (34), Bahrain (39) and Oman (62). 

“With geopolitical conflict and terrorism threatening to take an even bigger toll, countries in the [Middle East] region must focus on reforming the business environment and strengthening the private sector,” the WEF said.

AMMAN – Inspectors from the Public Sector Development Ministry recently carried out an unannounced visit to a Labour Ministry branch in Amman and recorded a number of negative observations related to the quality of services offered to the public. 

The visit was made to the ministry’s branch in Amman first district in the neighbourhood of Jabal Hussein. 

The report prepared by the inspectors following the visit, which was made available to The Jordan Times, criticised employees of the agency for not giving enough attention to people seeking services by not answering their inquiries properly. 

The report said people waiting to be served complained about visiting more than one department affiliated with the Labour Ministry to have their applications processed and completed. 

Furthermore, the department did not update information related to documents required to obtain services, said the inspectors’ report, adding that there was no special office or desk to offer assistance to visitors. 

The premises also lacked access for people with disabilities, according to the report. Windows offering services to the public saw long lines due to lack of an electronic take-a-number system.  

The inspectors also criticised the way files and records were documented, stating the possibility of damage or loss. 

The report recommended the need to provide employees with training to improve their performance and render them able to offer better quality services. 

Over the past three years, teams from the Public Sector Development Ministry have carried out unannounced visits to various government agencies to monitor their performance and submit reports to the prime minister and concerned ministers.

AMMAN  — The Jordan Bar Association (JBA) announced its decision to offer free legal help to residents who cannot afford to hire a lawyer or pay bar association fees, JBA President Samir Khirfan said on Wednesday.

The JBA, in cooperation with the Judicial Council, the Justice Ministry, and the National Centre for Human Rights, called on those who cannot afford a lawyer or the association to ask for help. 

“The association has been offering these free services since it was founded; this is not a new initiative nor is it the first time we have offered free legal help. However, several organisations and centres have been using our no-cost services and take the credit for them,” Khirfan said. 

“Those privately owned centres and organisations have been carrying out an illegal act so we had to publicise our free services,” he told The Jordan Times.

Under Article 100 of the Union Law, the association is required to offer legal and judicial help to those who can provide documents proving their need for financial support. 

Khirfan said that the announcement aims to bring about citizen awareness of the JBA’s free services and to encourage the government to fund the association.

He noted that many people who ask for help lack the financial resources required to hire a lawyer and to pay the fees.

“Many of those who have the right to hire a lawyer neglect their problems because they do not have the amount of money required, leading to more injustice against the less privileged.”

There are around 12,000 lawyers who are members of the association, 300 of whom have announced their willingness to help underprivileged people, according to Khirfan.

He added that a table of fees is to be issued “soon” to demonstrate the detailed pricing of each case. Those lacking funds will not be subject to these fees. 

AMMAN – The Hashemite University’s student union on Wednesday criticised the shortage of buses transporting students from the Sweileh area to the university a day earlier, the union’s president, Qusai Khawaldeh, said. 

Khawaldeh noted the large number of students needing transportation every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, calling on Mutakamilah Transportation Company (AutoBus) to expand the fleet of buses serving university students. 

“Every 30 minutes a bus comes to transport the students and that is not enough to accommodate the high number of passengers,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

AutoBus Director Moayad Abu Farda said the “main problem for us that we do not have the exact number of students we are supposed to transport from Sweileh. I want to emphasise that there is no shortage of buses. On the contrary, the situation this semester is much better than during the previous one,” he told The Jordan Times. 

He noted that a meeting bringing together representatives of the company and university officials will be held on Thursday to determine the number of students who will benefit from the services of AutoBus. 

Earlier this year, students organised several strikes, demonstrations and activities, such as an overnight sit-in at the university’s main gate and a boycott of the company’s buses, to protest against “poor transport services” and to push for improvements. 

AMMAN — Police on Tuesday announced the arrest of two people in connection with the deadly shooting of a man in Tabarbour a day earlier.

The victim, in his 20s, was found in front of his home on Monday night, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital but died shortly after being admitted, the official told The Jordan Times.

Sartawi said a special team was formed to investigate the incident and concluded that some of the victim’s relatives were involved.

Upon summoning several suspects for questioning, “two of the relatives confessed to the killing,” Sartawi added.

“The suspects informed investigators that they had had previous family problems with the victim,” Sartawi said without further elaboration.

Police are still investigating the incident to determine if there are more people involved, according to a statement by the Public Security Department.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Salah Taleb will question the suspects and summon more witnesses, a senior judicial source said.