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NEWYORK — Upon Jordan’s request, Omar Ababneh and Fares Odwan on Thursday were accredited as representatives of the Jordanian delegation to the UN Security Council.

The delegation is headed by HH Prince Zeid Raad, who is Jordan’s permanent representative at the UN. Jordan currently holds the non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for the Asia-Pacific bloc. 

AMMAN — Deputising for HRH Princess Ghida, the chairperson of the King Hussein Cancer  Foundation board of trustees, King Hussein Cancer Centre (KHCC) Director General Asem Mansour on Thursday inaugurated an international conference titled, “Conference on Cancer Biobanking: Establishing the First Cancer Biobank in Jordan”.

During the opening ceremony, Mansour announced the establishment of Jordan’s first cancer biobank, a joint-initiative between the KHCC, Middle Eastern and African Society for Biopreservation and Biobanking, and WHO. 

AMMAN — The Jordan Press Association (JPA) on Thursday said the door is open until April 17 for members to settle their annual fees to be eligible to take part in the JPA elections later this month.

“Those wishing to take part in the JPA elections to select the association’s president and council members have until the end of the working day on April 17 to pay the annual fees,” JPA Director Fakhri Abu Hamda told The Jordan Times.

Those wishing to run for the post of president or members of the council have until April 22 to register, he added, noting that several JPA members have so far showed interest in candidacy.

The elections will be held on April 25 to select the president and council members who will serve a three-year term, Abu Hamda added.

The association, which was established in 1953, has 1,070 members, according to the JPA director.

On Wednesday, the Lower House endorsed draft amendments to the JPA Law which stipulate certain new methods for electing members of the JPA council, under which the president’s deputy will be directly elected from the general assembly.

Previously, the person for this post was selected from members of the JPA council.

However, these amendments will not affect these polls as the bill must first go to the Senate to be discussed and approved before being sent to His Majesty King Abdullah for ratification, after which it will be published in the Official Gazette, when it will go into effect. 

The old version of the law will remain in effect and govern the polls, according to parliamentarians.

In Tuesday’s session, the Lower House defined the eligibility of any individual aspiring to become a member of the Jordan Press Association, limiting the journalism profession to holders of bachelor’s degrees.

AMMAN — Health authorities and UN agencies are preparing for another polio immunisation campaign following the recent discovery of a polio case in Iraq, officials said on Thursday.

Michelle Servadei, UNICEF Jordan Deputy Representative, said the agency is currently in discussions to organise another round of immunisation in cooperation with the Health Ministry and WHO.

However, the date is yet to be set for the launch of this campaign. 

The case, which was discovered in a six-month-old boy on March 30, prompted the UN to launch polio immunisation campaigns in Syria, Iraq and Egypt, targeting over 20 million children.

For Iraq, this will be the first nationwide immunisation campaign since the polio case was confirmed by the health ministry on March 30 in Rusafa, in northern Baghdad, a UNICEF statement said.

According to the statement, this is first case of polio to be seen in Iraq in 14 years.

Although Jordan is not part of the regional campaign announced this week, “local authorities are on alert,” Mohammad Abdullat, director of the Health Ministry’s communicable diseases directorate, told The Jordan Times over the phone on Thursday.

Abdullat added that authorities are continuing their immunisation campaigns at the points of entry into the Kingdom.

“We vaccinate refugees who are under the age of 15 once they cross borders,” Abdullat explained, noting that as a precautionary measure, there is also a need for another nationwide campaign.

Previous immunisation campaigns conducted in Jordan have covered 3.3 million people.

Funded by UNICEF, the three campaigns were based on WHO recommendations which stated that two to four doses of polio immunisation should be given to children in countries bordering any states where cases of the disease are discovered.

Eighteen cases of polio were discovered in neighbouring Syria in 2013, almost 15 years after the disease was eliminated there.

In Jordan, the last polio case was registered in 1992.

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor has charged a 22-year-old man with premeditated murder in connection with the stabbing death of a woman in the capital’s Abu Nuseir area last week, a senior judicial source said on Thursday.

The body of the 45-year-old victim was found wrapped in a blanket in the bathtub of her house at 7:00am last Saturday.

The suspect had reportedly contacted the police on Saturday morning claiming that someone robbed the house, beat him up and murdered the woman, the source told The Jordan Times.

Shortly after investigators arrived at the scene to investigate the homicide, the suspect allegedly informed them that he was the perpetrator.

The suspect knew the victim for a while, but the source declined to reveal the nature of their relationship, or to provide any further information, other than ruling out theft as a motive.

Last week, a Public Security Department statement said the suspect told the police that he stabbed the woman over “personal disputes”.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Saleh Taleb is still questioning witnesses and has issued orders for the suspect to be detained at a correctional and rehabilitation centre pending further investigation into the incident.

AMMAN –– Wheat imports increased by nearly 30 per cent over the past two years due to the “large” influx of Syrian refugees, a government official said on Thursday. 

According to Yanal Barmawi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply, wheat imports rose from around 800,000 tonnes per year to over 1 million tonnes to meet the rising demand for bread caused by the presence of more than half-a-million Syrian refugees in the Kingdom. 

Official figures estimate the number of Syrians who have sought refuge in Jordan since the onset of the conflict in their country in March 2011 at 611,932, of whom 114,092 are camp residents. 

There is a similar number of Syrians living in Jordan who are not registered as refugees. Authorities put the overall number of Syrians in the Kingdom at around 1.3 million. 

Hosting this “large number” of Syrians has placed heavy financial burdens on the country and on basic food commodities, most of which are subsidised by the government, Barmawi told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

Bakeries in the northern governorates, which host around 50 per cent of the Syrians residing in the country, have been complaining of shortages of subsidised flour due to growing demand for bread. 

Abdul Ilah Hamawi, president of the Bakery Owners Association, previously told The Jordan Times that several bakeries in Mafraq and Irbid are unable to meet the sharp increase in demand. 

The government provides bakeries across the Kingdom with subsidised flour at around JD36 per tonne while the actual cost on the budget is estimated at JD305 per tonne, according to the minister of industry, trade and supply.   

Earlier this week, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Hatem Halawani said the government is working to find new subsidy mechanisms for bread that would target Jordanians only, citing direct cash transfers as the best option as it has been applied for over a year to deliver fuel subsidies. 

The government estimates the value of the flour subsidy and basic commodities at JD260 million, from which non-Jordanian residents also benefit.

AMMAN — Studies are under way to select a new location for the Ain Ghazal Wastewater Treatment Plant, Ministry of Water and Irrigation officials said on Thursday.

The authorities seek to relocate the facility away from an overpopulated neighbourhood, and a congested highway that links Amman and Zarqa, Water Ministry Spokesperson Omar Salameh said.

“The ministry is scouting around for a new location which is far from residential areas, yet relatively close to the capital,” Salameh told The Jordan Times.

Al Ghabawi and Ruseifa in Zarqa Governorate, situated 22 kilometres northeast of Amman, were among the ministry’s options to house the new facility, but the locations were deemed unfeasible after further studies, he said.

The relocation of the plant, which was established in 1963 in east Amman, will be the long-term solution for the air pollution, foul odours and traffic congestion caused by the facility.

Meanwhile, Water Minister Hazem Nasser visited the plant on Thursday to check on progress of a JD2-million renovation project, which is considered a short-term solution for the environmental problems in the area.

The refurbishment of the treatment plant is aimed at ending the emission of bad odours, a long-standing nuisance to area residents, and addressing traffic congestion created by scores of wastewater tankers, which line up to unload sewage at the plant, according to the ministry.

“The project’s tender was referred to a local contractor this month,” Nasser said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

As part of the renovation project, the contractor will increase the number of sewage discharge points at the plant from eight to 14 and raise the capacity of the sewage tankers’ treatment unit from 10,000 cubic metres daily to 16,000 cubic metres, Nasser explained.

In addition, a new state-of-the-art treatment unit will be established to prevent the emission of foul odours, thus creating a clean environment for area residents and reducing the amount of organic materials that reach the Khirbet Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant via sewage tankers, according to the ministry.

The Ain Ghazal plant comprises two wastewater treatment units — one receives and treats 150,000 cubic metres of wastewater from Amman’s sewage network, while the second treats 10,000 cubic metres of wastewater dumped daily by over 150 tankers.

There are 27 wastewater treatment plants in the Kingdom that treat 122 million cubic metres of wastewater per year, 115 million cubic metres of which are used for industrial purposes and irrigating certain crops, such as fodder, according to the ministry.
The rehabilitation and expansion of the Ain Ghazal treatment plant is funded by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) grant.

In 2011, the GCC allocated $5 billion to finance development projects in Jordan during the 2012-2016 period, with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar paying $1.25 billion each.

A list of development projects was prepared by a committee, with some $425.4 million allocated for water and sanitation projects.

GHOR AL MAZRAA –– As the world increasingly chooses to turn to mechanised means to solve its problems, one family in Ghor Al Mazraa is sticking to traditional measures in running their flourishing farm.

Maslam Ayyad and her family have been cultivating tomatoes and various types of herbs, since 1972. 

The farm is a lifeline of sustenance for Ayyad, a widow, helping her provide for her family’s needs and also paying for her children’s education. 

For Ayyad, better known in the area as Um Bakr, the farm is not only a means of income, but also a way of life, as farming has been part and parcel of her ancestry for as long as she can remember. 

“I used to help my parents in cultivating the land and harvesting the crops,” Um Bakr told The Jordan Times in a recent interview at her farm, located in the southern Jordan Valley. 

It is through this culture of generational farming that her family has acquired much of the knowledge that she continues to put into good use today. 

The 60-year-old recalled that when she got married in 1972, her husband always made sure to plant both tomatoes and herbs. 

“He did this because he did not want to depend on one kind of vegetable. Instead, he introduced herbs onto the farm as they are not seasonal and therefore can be planted throughout the year. It is the herbs that pay our bills,” the mother of 12 and grandmother of 20, recounted. 

Um Bakr plants Corchorus (commonly known as mlukhiya), mint and thyme in the summer, while in winter she plants spinach, parsley and cumin. 

Najah, one of Um Bakr’s daughters, explained that they note down the types of herbs that are the most purchased by their customers.

“This helps us know the most popular herbs among our clients, so that we can plant more of them in the future,” she added.

Um Bakr stressed that she likes to not only work on her farm, but also reside on it, unlike most farmers in the area. 

“It’s better to stay on the farm because that way you can keep a close eye on everything and protect it from thieves” she noted. 

It is not only in this sense that Um Bakr is different from other farmers, as she prefers old traditional farming methods over more modern techniques. 

“I use fish to make the fertiliser because I get higher quality crops,” she explained, noting that chemical fertilisers result in unhealthy crops because they are not organic.

Although her children have grown up, and some of them have taken other jobs, Um Bakr said they have not abandoned her and continue to help with the farmwork. 

Najah said working at the farm is much more beneficial than other jobs because it feeds them directly. 

Um Bakr believes that it is this close-knit family cooperation that has been an “important factor” in the success of their business.  

“There are many wives who do not help their husbands, or children who refuse to join their parents on the farms, simply because they feel embarrassed to be working on the land,” she said. 

The time this family has invested in the farm is also something which has been passed down to Um Bakr’s grandchildren, who also help out during harvesting.

However, there are some factors that remain a challenge to the farming community. 

Um Bakr explained that the huge expenses involved in running a farm have forced most owners to sell their land. 

“The lack of water is also another factor that makes it difficult for most farmers here.” 

Nevertheless, Um Bakr’s reputation means that she does not need to display her goods in the market as all her customers come to her, she said. 

“My clients come from across the Kingdom to buy their favourite herbs.” 

Amnah Bayaydah, one of Um Bakr’s loyal customers, said she was impressed with the quality of the produce.   

“I like to buy from Um Bakr because she picks the herbs right in front of you”.

AMMAN — A leading Jordanian Salafist is currently brokering a ceasefire between rival Al Qaeda branches in Syria in a bid to end infighting that has cost thousands of lives and is dividing the global jihadist movement, Islamist sources say. 

According to the sources, Saad Al Huneiti, a leading member of the hardline Jordanian Jjihadi Salafist movement, is currently in Aleppo in a bid to reach a ceasefire between Jabhat Al Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), two leading Al Qaeda affiliates and jihadist forces in Syria who have been locked in internal fighting which has reportedly cost over 4,000 lives across the country. 

Sources close to Huneiti say the jihadist leader has travelled from the ISIL’s headquarters in Riqa to the frontlines of jihadist infighting in Aleppo in a bid to reach a consensus over the formation of a joint Sharia (Islamic law) court to rule on the disputes between the groups.

Prior to arriving in northern Syria late last month, Huneiti travelled across Saudi Arabia to gain the backing of top Salafist clerics for his ceasefire initiative, sources say.

The bid comes less than two months after the failure of the so-called “Al Umma initiative” by Saudi cleric Abdullah Al Muheissini to establish an umbrella Sharia court to look into disputes among the various jihadist and Islamist militias fighting in Syria.

A moderate figure within the hardline Jordanian Salafist movement, Huneiti had previously rejected calls from fellow leading scholars, such as Mahmoud Othman, or Abu Qatada, for the group to disown the ISIL, calling instead for “reconciliation” between the former Al Qaeda affiliates.

With some 2,000 supporters fighting alongside both the ISIL and Al Nusra, the Jordanian Salafist movement is viewed by the regional jihadist movement and Syrian Islamist groups as a key player and an independent mediator in the latest attempt to end the infighting. 

In previous statements to The Jordan Times, Huneiti had attributed the escalating violence between rival jihadist groups to “individual mistakes” and “outside influences”, accusing the Syrian regime and foreign media outlets of fabricating and instigating the jihadist schism.

Al Nusra and the ISIL have been locked in bitter infighting which erupted in late 2013 over the latter’s refusal to cooperate with rebel groups and summary execution of leaders of rival jihadist militias.

The rising violence, which has reportedly claimed over 4,000 lives, reached an apex in February after ISIL forces allegedly assassinated Abu Khaled Al Souri, the right-hand man of Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri and former confidant to Osama Bin Laden.

The incident moved Zawahiri to cut official ties with the group, which had its branch in Iraq, further deepening the crisis. 

AMMAN — Jordan and the World Bank Group (WBG) have concluded a $250 million loan agreement aimed to help alleviate the Kingdom’s fiscal strains and enhance its economic growth.

The Development Policy Loan (DPL) deal was signed by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Ibrahim Saif and World Bank MENA Region Vice President Inger Anderson during the 2014 Spring Meetings of the WBG and International Monetary Fund being held in Washington.

According to a Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation statement to The Jordan Times, the DPL, which was approved by the WBG executive board on March 13, is of a 30-year maturity period with a grace period of five years and a low interest rate below 1 per cent. 

In a press release posted on its website last week, the World Bank said that the loan is meant primarily to help ease Kingdom’s fiscal strains which have been deepened by the influx of Syrian refugees.

The WBG also blamed regional turmoil for Jordan’s financial woes, highlighting disruptions of natural gas supplies from Egypt.

The World Bank’s support to Jordan over the last two years, amounting to $700 million in loans and grants, has focused on a two-track approach: medium-term budget support and an emergency response to the Syrian crisis, the statement said.

“Jordan is striving to offset the impact of exogenous shocks that have deepened its economic difficulties,” said Ferid Belhaj, World Bank director of the Mashreq (Levant) Department.

“The WBG’s support to Jordan over the last several months is a case in point of how engaging fast and in earnest to tackle emergency situations, such as the impact of the Syrian crisis on the country, can help maintain government focus on policy dialogue and prevent the derailing of its broad structural reform agenda,” Belhaj added.

The Second Programmatic Development Policy Loan complements an earlier operation approved in January 2012 which supports key elements of the government’s Executive Development Programme, which aims to improve transparency and accountability, enhance debt management and the efficiency of government spending, and promote private sector-driven growth, the bank’s statement said.

More recently, in July 2013, the WBG committed $150 million through rapid, direct financial assistance to help Jordan maintain access to essential healthcare services and basic household needs for the population affected by the large and increasing impact of the Syrian crisis.

The World Bank said that it had also spearheaded efforts to mobilise donor grant financing to support the resilience of stretched public service delivery to Jordanian communities hosting Syrian refugees, pointing out that in October 2013, the bank secured a $50 million grant targeting municipalities and communities under stress.

The grant, co-financed by Britain, Canada, Switzerland and the World Bank through its State and Peace Building Fund, strengthens municipal capacity to support local economic development.

External shocks, the global recession and the regional turmoil that followed the Arab Spring, including the impact of the disruption in low-cost gas supplies from Egypt, have heightened long-term structural vulnerabilities in Jordan, according to the bank.

“As of mid-2012, it became apparent that the external shocks and regional turmoil have resulted in fiscal and current account imbalances which have been partially financed by external aid,” said Eric Le Borgne, World Bank lead economist for Jordan, as quoted by the statement.