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AMMAN — The embassy of Ukraine in Amman on Tuesday expressed its appreciation of a Greater Amman Municipality council decision to name a street after Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861), a renowned Ukrainian poet.

The street is located in the Sahel area near the 7th Circle.

Stressing the importance of the step as a means to boost bilateral relations, the embassy said this is the first street named after the poet in an Arab city.

AMMAN — A total of 846 Syrians entered the Kingdom through various border points over the past 24 hours, according to a Jordan Armed Forces statement issued on Tuesday.

Border guards stationed along the 376-kilometre border with Syria received the refugees and provided urgent medical assistance for the wounded.

AMMAN — Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Health Minister Ali Hiasat on Tuesday inaugurated a new hospital in the eastern Amman neighbourhood of Hai Nazzal.

Awqaf Minister Hayel Dawood, area leaders and other figures attended the opening ceremony.

Dawood said this is the first hospital to be funded by a local zakat committee, in addition to Kuwaiti and United Arab Emirates charities.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Tuesday met with the director general of the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Mahmoud Solh, and discussed means to enhance joint cooperation.

Ensour expressed the government’s desire to utilise the advanced agricultural technologies of ICARDA.

Solh said the ICARDA office in Amman is working on establishing a real partnership with the government.

AMMAN — Bahraini King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifah on Tuesday met with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Gen. Mashal Al Zaben, who is on an official visit to the Gulf country.

Zaben conveyed His Majesty King Abdullah’s greetings to King Hamad, and discussed issues of mutual interest.

He also met with Bahraini military officials and discussed ways to boost cooperation, especially in training and joint drills.

AMMAN — Jordan seeks to enhance cooperation with Bahrain in all spheres, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said on Tuesday at a meeting with Bahraini Minister State for Information Samira Ibrahim Bin Rajab.

The premier highlighted challenges facing the Kingdom due to hosting Syrian and Palestinian refugees, with the latter’s issue being forgotten by the world, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The Bahraini official underscored her country’s commitment to enhancing openness despite the difficulties it has gone through.

In a lecture on “The Status Quo in Bahrain and the Arab Gulf States” at the Jordan Media Institute (JMI) on Tuesday, she said her country had survived political and sectarian uprisings led by radical groups, a JMI statement said.

The minister also stressed the importance of Jordanian-Bahraini relations, especially in expertise exchange and media cooperation.

AMMAN — HRH Princess Basma, chairman of the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development’s (JOHUD) board of trustees, on Tuesday met with a delegation of Emirati women representing the Red Crescent Society of the UAE and Zayed University.

The princess voiced her appreciation of the UAE’s efforts to help mitigate the impact of the Syrian refugee influx in host countries.

Discussions covered ways to improve cooperation to provide services to Syrians with the support of the UAE.

The delegates supervised the distribution of assistance to refugees and visited a number of Syrian families living among host communities.

AMMAN — The Criminal Court has sentenced a 22-year-old man to seven years in prison for engaging in consensual sex with a minor in an Amman neighbourhood in 2013.

The defendant, an electrician, was convicted of engaging in consensual sex with the 17-year-old minor four times in the month of July and was handed the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the defendant and the minor knew each other for two months before the incident.

“The defendant took the victim to the roof of his building and engaged in sexual activities with her twice,” the court said.

Two weeks later, the court added, the defendant rented a house and “repeated his offence twice”.

The tribunal comprised judges Fawzi Nahar, Hussein Tharaba and Mohammad Udwan.

The Court of Cassation is currently reviewing the verdict, which was issued in mid-March.

Under Article 294 of the Penal Code, sex with a minor over 15 is punished with no less than seven years in prison. If the minor is between the ages of 12 and 15, the punishment is at least a 15-year prison term.

The punishment for sex with a minor under 12 is the death penalty, according to the Penal Code.

AMMAN — Social media is a cost-effective tool that can be utilised to the maximum to promote Jordan as a tourist destination abroad, officials said on Tuesday.

“Jordan has so much to offer in terms of tourism,” US Ambassador Stuart E. Jones said, adding that Americans, Europeans and others who come to the country, “love to be here and they enjoy the experience”.

“We want to help them [tourists] find this experience and a great way to do it is through social media,” Jones noted.

The ambassador made the remarks at the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between the USAID Economic Growth Through Sustainable Tourism Project and the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB).

Under the memo, USAID will provide JTB with a series of grants to strengthen the promotion of Jordan as a tourist destination in the European, North American and Mexican markets.

The grants will help JTB use social media, as well as online and direct marketing to reach new groups of potential tourists abroad. 

Marketing efforts will also include revamping the online Jordan Travel Agent Academy to help North American travel agents market Jordan; developing Spanish-language promotional content to reach travellers in Mexico and the US; hosting press trips for travel writers; and increasing Jordan’s exposure with US tour operators. 

“The grants will also fund TripAdvisor campaigns in Europe, the US and Mexico,” a USAID statement said.

Marketing Jordan as a tourism destination is a key element for the growth of the sector, Minister of Labour and Tourism Nidal Katamine, said at the signing ceremony.

Addressing tourism representatives, the minister noted that a number of activities are planned over the next few months which take advantage of current marketing trends. 

“We are happy to see that the joint partnership between JTB and the USAID Tourism Project is working on different marketing strategies," added Katamine, who is chairman of the JTB.

During the past eight years, USAID has provided over JD256,811 ($362,727) to support the promotion of Jordan in global markets, the statement quoted USAID/Jordan Mission Director Beth Paige as saying.

“This has introduced people throughout the world to Jordan’s spectacular landscape and ancient treasures,” she added.

According to Tourism Ministry figures, the number of tourists who visited Jordan last year dropped by 14 per cent compared to 2012.

The marketing initiatives implemented by JTB, with support from USAID, should increase the number of tourists visiting Jordan, the statement quoted JTB Director General Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat as saying. “North America is a major tourism market for Jordan with huge potential for growth,” he noted.

AMMAN — Jordan will sign an agreement with Spain’s Elecnor this month to build a $150 million wind-operated power plant in the southern city of Maan, according to Energy Minister Mohammad Hamed.

The 75-megawatt power plant will be funded by a grant from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and is expected to be connected to the grid in the first quarter of 2015, Hamed said in an interview with The Jordan Times on Monday.

“Elecnor was chosen from among six bidding companies,” the minister said, stressing the importance of the project in increasing power generation through renewable energy. 

The national strategy envisions electricity generated from renewable sources to account for 10 per cent of the energy mix by 2020.

Hamed added that the ministry has shortlisted 12 local and international companies to build a $150 million solar-run power station in the southern region.

The ministry will announce the winning bidder to build the 75-megawatt plant within two months, after which implementation will start, the minister noted.

“The solar plant is also funded by the GCC grant and shortlisted companies are expected to submit technical and financial offers by April 6,” he said.

The solar plant is expected to be ready and connected to the national grid in mid-2015, according to Hamed.

In 2011, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait pledged $5 billion in assistance to Jordan over a period of five years.

Jordan imports about 96 per cent of its energy needs annually. 

The Kingdom’s energy bill amounted to JD4.08 billion in 2013 compared to JD4.63 billion in 2012, according to figures by the Department of Statistics.