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AMMAN — Jordan, Iraq and Egypt started on Thursday studying projects to transfer natural gas from Iraq to the Kingdom and Egypt, according to energy ministers of the three countries.

With regard to this, the three countries have started looking into extending an oil pipeline from Iraq’s Basra to Egypt via Jordan’s Aqaba to export Iraqi oil to Africa, they said during a ceremony to sign a memorandum of understanding.

“We are looking into linking the natural gas fields in Iraq that are being developed to the Arab Gas Pipeline in Jordan. Then, we can provide the commodity to Jordan, Egypt and many other countries that are connected through the existing pipeline,” Iraq’s Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi told The Jordan Times on Thursday on the sidelines of the ceremony.

The Arab Gas Pipeline stretches from Egypt to Lebanon through Jordan and Syria.

Under the memo, the three countries will examine extending the $18 billion Iraqi oil pipeline, which will transfer one million barrels of crude oil per day from Basra to Aqaba, to reach Egypt, Egypt’s oil minister, Sherif Ismail, said during a press conference after he signed the memo with his peers.

“Egypt is ready to refine the Iraqi oil at its refineries to facilitate its exports to Sudan and many other African countries,” said Ismail on Thursday.

The Basra-Aqaba oil pipeline is expected to be operational late 2017, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Mohammad Hamed said on Thursday, noting that the pipeline will provide Jordan with 150,000 barrels of oil per day.

“The projects we are discussing with Iraq and Egypt are mega-projects that will be a turning point in the Jordanian energy sector,” the energy minister continued.

Stressing the importance of the planned projects, Luaibi said: “Iraq’s production of oil and gas is expected to rise sharply during the few coming years and we need gateways for exports. The pipeline through Aqaba will be a main instrument in this regard and will help us boost our exports. In addition, it will greatly benefit the Jordanian economy.”

Also on Thursday, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and the National Electric Power Company signed two agreements with the Jordanian-Egyptian FAJR Company to build an 800-metre pipeline that connects the already under construction liquefied natural gas terminal in Aqaba Port to the FAJR’s Arab Gas Pipeline.

Under the agreements, the pipeline will be used for transferring gas from the terminal in Aqaba to power generation plants in Jordan that exist along the pipeline, which stretches from El Arish in Egypt to the north of Jordan and continues through Syria until Lebanon, said Hamed.

Gas is expected to be supplied to power generation plants through the Arab Gas Pipeline as of early 2015, according to the ministry.

On natural gas imports from Egypt, Ismail said gas supply to Jordan is completely halted at present and that the Egyptian authorities are working around the clock to fix the pipeline, which was sabotaged frequently, to resume supplies to Jordan as soon as possible. 

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday sent two cables to Saudi King Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz, offering his condolences over the deaths of Prince Abdul Rahman Bin Faisal Bin Abdul Aziz and Prince Khalid Bin Mishaal Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.

In the cables, the Monarch expressed his deepest sympathies to the king and people of Saudi Arabia.

AMMAN — House is expected to witness next week the birth of two new coalitions that some lawmakers see as a response to a platform-based bloc, dubbed Mubadara, which has gained ground by formulating solid policies addressing key concerns of Jordanians.

The deputies said that Mubadara, founded and led by MP Mustafa Hamarneh, has served as a trendsetter after it went into talks with the executive authority and “succeeded in making a difference”.

Deputy Adnan Ajarmeh, who used to be a member of Mubadara, plans to announce a new 25-strong bloc based on platforms.

The other coalition comprises the Watan (Homeland), Islamic Centrist and the National Union blocs, which will join forces to strengthen their position under the Dome, with 50 members that constitute a third of the House, a member of the new group said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The difference between these two coalitions, according to another parliamentary source who is familiar with the developments, is that the second is based on blocs, while the first does really not recognise blocs as the base for building successful alliances.

“Our coalition will submit a national plan different from the government’s agenda,” Ajarmeh said, ruling out claims that he seeks to create this coalition to counter Mubadara.

“We will have programmes that can be perceived as an alternative to the government’s plans,” he said.

Hamarneh, who holds the title of Mubadara’s general coordinator, rejected the assumption that his bloc’s policies are 100 per cent compatible with the government’s.

He explained: “We support the government as long as it implements our agreed-upon policies and strategies.”

If the plans for the new coalitions materialise, the House will have three major lobbying groups. Currently there are nine blocs, but some of their members have joined Mubadara or Ajarmeh’s initiative. 

The Mubadara team posed as a shadow government with a clear platform to address key national issues.

It takes credit for lobbying for a government decision to grant husbands and children of Jordanian women married to non-Jordanians civil rights, including access to public services such as health, education and driving licences, in addition to the right to work without going through the hassle of obtaining work permits.

Mubadara has also prepared a plan to revive the education system, with a promise to trigger a transformation process that will take the quality of education to the next level.

Next week, a Mubadara member said, the bloc will announce new policy papers on tourism and other sectors after engaging in a dialogue with concerned partners from both the public and private sectors in addition to civil society organisations. 

AMMAN — In a bid to re-instill a culture of partisan action among university students, officials, academics and party leaders met on Tuesday with students at the University of Jordan (UJ) to discuss ways to “develop political life at universities”.

The USAID-sponsored forum, coordinated between the Political and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, UJ and the International Republican Institute, also saw representatives of several political parties present the platforms and visions of their parties for political development in Jordan and how to engage young people in political life.

Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs Khaled Kalaldeh said the existence of active political parties is a healthy sign in a society seeking to build a democratic model.

To entrench such a culture, Kalaldeh said, his ministry plans to strengthen the role of political parties in the education system in the Kingdom. By doing so, he added, young Jordanians will assume their proper role as “messengers of change”.

UJ President Ekhleif Tarawneh noted that young people were engaged in political party action in the past, citing the 1950s when students used to “leave school and the mosque to join a political party”, and meet in “streets, clubs and theatres, united by their stand against Western policies”. 

“They did not need their universities or NGOs to encourage them to engage in partisan action.”

“All this was before the emergence of the tribe-religion-state trinity, which provided students with protection and replaced parties, although the sons of the tribes constituted the backbone of the national movement, the opposition and party action at that time,” Tarawneh said at the forum, titled “The Future is in Your Hands.”

AMMAN — Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Amin Mahmoud on Wednesday said all Jordanian students in Ukraine are fine. He said the number of Jordanian students in Ukraine is around 3,500, of whom 250 are studying in the Crimea region, where tensions have been high due to Russian military interference following the ousting of the government.

Mahmoud said he will visit Ukraine today to meet with Ukrainian higher education officials to learn more about the conditions of the students there. He said he will visit four main universities in Ukraine to meet with students studying there. He will also check on the conditions of the students in the Crimea region, he added. 

AMMAN —  Violators of a law drafted to protect Arabic as the official state language will be fined JD1,000-3,000, the government has decided.

The Cabinet on Wednesday endorsed the Arabic protection draft law, aimed at safeguarding the language against “slang and foreign terms”, in official agencies and state-run educational and media institutions, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The bill is meant to preserve Arabic “to keep up with the requirements of modern civilisation in all fields and counter the phenomenon of widespread and arbitrary use of foreign terms”.

Arabic will be strictly used as “the language of talks, negotiations, memorandums and correspondence with other governments and international institutions, organisations and bodies”.

The bill also stipulates that no teacher or instructor shall be employed by an educational institution without passing an Arabic proficiency test. 

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday visited Al Hassan Industrial Estate where he had a first-hand look at several pilot projects that are helping provide jobs for local residents and empower young people and unleash their potentials. 

At the industrial estate, the King also visited a household appliances plant project, funded by the Governorates Development Fund (GDF), according to a Royal Court statement.  

King Abdullah ordered the creation of the JD150 million GDF in July 2012 to finance development plans for the governorates, assist in creating jobs for local residents, promote investments and ensure a fair distribution of development gains across the Kingdom.

At the beginning of the visit, the King was acquainted with the business and the achievements of the innovative business incubator at Al Hassan Industrial Estate. 

Inaugurated by King Abdullah in 2006, the incubator centre, affiliated with the Jordan Innovation Centres (JICs), is working to support entrepreneurship and creativity through tapping the potentials of young people and transforming their ideas into development initiatives and business ventures.    

Touring the business incubator centre, the King was acquainted with projects that benefited from the JICs services across the Kingdom. The agency has so far helped launch 29 companies in different sectors, while several other start-ups are still in the making. 

At the end of the tour, King Abdullah expressed his full support for the projects and gave directives to provide the proper environment to ensure their success, emphasising the role of both the GDF and the King Abdullah II Fund for Development and their ability to transform pioneering ideas into productive income-generating projects. 

The showcased model projects are operating in the areas of solar energy, water treatment systems, manufacture of auto spare parts, IT, minerals, handicrafts and food industries. 

Entrepreneurs, who initiated the projects, took turns to make presentations on their projects and opportunities that their businesses created for the local communities, highlighting their aspirations for future development and gradual expansion, the statement said. 

Reham Gharbiyeh, JICs executive director, noted that the agency is currently running five business incubators in addition to Irbid —  Karak, Maan, Mafraq, Jerash and Madaba, adding that it is currently supporting 35 projects at these centres. These projects are “60 to 80 per cent successful”, she said. 

Grants for the projects are extended through the GDF, in coordination with Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO) under certain conditions, while self-funded projects are welcome and they receive other forms of assistance, Gharbiyeh was quoted as saying.

Ahmad Jaafreh, who has launched a GPS project, Firas Abu Koushok, who has an auto parts factory, and Hiyam Tawalbeh, who has a mosaic handicraft business, highlighted their projects and the support they are getting from the JICs. 

The household appliance plant was built at a cost of JD2 million, 57 per cent of which was provided by the GDF. Its owner Hesham Thabbah said the plant has so far provided jobs for 35 local residents, noting that it should provide 300 jobs after around two years when its expansion plans are completed. 

The plant’s overall products are currently exported to the Syrian and Iraqi markets while efforts are under way to penetrate other markets, Thabbah pointed out, adding that the project’s added value amounts to 75 per cent. 

In an interview by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, JEDCO’s Director General Yarub Qudah, said the project is the first of those funded by the GDF, adding that the corporation has financed 57 projects through the GDF whose total contribution to projects amounts currently to JD37 million. These projects will provide around 1,875 jobs for Jordanian youths, he added. 

While in Irbid, the King, accompanied by HH Prince Mired, president of the Hashemite Charity Society for Soldiers with Special Needs, visited retired first warrant officer Yousef Shatanawi and checked on his health and living conditions. 

Shatanawi, who joined the Public Security Department in 1970, retired as first warrant officer after a traffic accident in 1983.  

“The visit came in line with the King’s commitment to maintaining contact with retired military servicemen, in appreciation of their role and contributions to the country,” the Royal Court said. 

The King also met with dignitaries from the northern governorate at a lunch banquet held by former minister Abdul Razzaq Tbeishat. 

During the meeting, the King discussed with the community leaders regional developments and several local issues. 

Stressing that governorates’ development is a top priority, he emphasised the need for collective efforts and the importance of drawing investments to northern governorates to help eliminate poverty and unemployment. He also called on Irbid’s citizens to participate in drawing up local policies and to define priorities that can help improve their living conditions. 

The attendees highlighted the main needs of the governorate, especially in terms of services and development plans. 

AMMAN — Jordanian women called on the government on Wednesday to ensure children born in the Kingdom, whose fathers are foreign citizens, full citizenship and rights in the country.

The Kingdom denies birthright citizenship to children of Jordanian mothers and foreign fathers, however guaranteeing it in the opposite case, members of grass-roots movement Arab Women Organisation of Jordan (AWO) told a conference in Amman, organised together with the embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Earlier this year the government pledged to grant full civil rights, excluding citizenship, to foreign husbands and children of Jordanian women but it recently changed the term to “services-related privileges”, as critics charged that the move was prelude to settle Palestinians permanently in Jordan, as many of these family members come from the Gaza Strip.  

“We must put together all our efforts and fight for women’s rights, building up momentum as we are approaching the International Women’s Day,” AWO President Randa Qsous said.

“Jordanian women should enjoy the same rights granted to men as these are human rights. We want to put an end to discrimination,” she added.

Around 84,000 Jordanian women are married to foreign citizens in the Kingdom with some 340,000 children of transnational marriages unable to access the same basic rights of children of Jordanian nationality, government figures show.

Jordanian women are prevented from passing on their citizenship to either spouses or children, who need visas and residency permits to live in the Kingdom, thus shuttling between police stations and health centres to obtain security clearances and medical reports. 

Their children are mostly compelled to enroll in private schools.

EU Ambassador to Jordan Joanna Wronecka said Europe supported women’s development in the Kingdom, helping them to improve and achieve their rights.

“I emphasise the importance of women’s participation in every sector of life in Jordan through different methods spanning from political dialogue to projects on the ground. The EU welcomes the dialogue on granting full citizenship to all children in the country,” Wronecka said.

The Kingdom denies access to public services to foreign male citizens married to Jordanian women restraining them also from obtaining driving licences and jobs without previous work permits.

“Women should keep fighting for their rights,” MP Wafa Bani Mustafa said while remembering the many victories women had so far enjoyed in the country, thanks to pioneering activists, like the increase in the number of Lower House seats reserved for women.

“We want Jordan to become a reformed and developed country but this is impossible if we do not ensure full gender equality. We ask our country to bestow the same rights on its sons and daughters,” Bani Mustafa said, adding she was fighting for women’s rights in Parliament like women should do in their everyday life.

Nima Habashneh, founder of the campaign “My mother is Jordanian, and her nationality is a right for me”, told The Jordan Times the reason why Jordan still faces such discrimination problems was due to the scarce importance given to women in the country.

The 55-year-old from Amman said she had been struggling all her life for her husband, a Moroccan national, and their six children.

“I always had to make sure I had enough money to ensure my children education and health service. It was a struggle for them and for myself; this is the reason why I started this campaign,“ Habashneh said. 

“We first took to the street seven years ago. It was only me and my two daughters, but now it has become an issue of national concern even though the government has not done anything yet. But we will keep fighting.”

AMMAN — Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh on Wednesday expressed his dissatisfaction with the loss of quorum at the session, adjourning the meeting until next week.

“I apologise to the Jordanian people as we once again lost quorum,” Tarawneh said, asking the Lower House secretary general to publish names of the MPs who were absent for no valid reason.

“I am determined to inform the people,” he said before leaving his seat.

The Lower House has suffered from a lack quorum several times over the past months, which delayed its agenda and negatively impacted its performance, several MPs said after the session was adjourned.

The Chamber of Deputies was planning to complete its deliberations over amendments to the draft agriculture law during Wednesday’s meeting, but could not proceed as Tarawneh announced the lack of quorum 45 minutes after it started.

According to the Constitution, a Lower House session remains valid as long as 75+one MPs are present under the Dome. 

Less than 60 deputies were present when the meeting was adjourned, and later in the day, the secretary general announced names of MPs who attended the Wednesday’s meeting along with those who were absent, with or without providing a valid reason.

Meanwhile, several MPs called on the government to declare a state of drought in the country, but Water Minister Hazem Nasser said the current rainfall situation does not really warrant such a declaration.

AMMAN — Despite being a “promising” student, Heba Hamoudeh had almost given up hope of going to university due to financial constraints, when the Tomooh Scholarship Programme gave her the chance to “pursue her dream”. 

The 20-year-old, who has seven siblings, would have been “deprived from entering university” if it were not for the PepsiCo-sponsored initiative, which was launched in 2007 in cooperation with the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD) and is implemented by the National Goodwill Campaign. 

Physical therapy had always been a passion for Hamoudeh, who is studying the subject at Hashemite University.

“I find myself involved in it… I love how this type of treatment can improve people’s mobility and ease their pain,” the third-year student told The Jordan Times on Wednesday on the sidelines of a ceremony marking the conclusion of the seventh phase of the Tomooh Scholarship Programme and the launch of the Saad Abdul Latif Scholarship Programme. 

Some 1,130 students have benefited from the Tomooh scholarships, which fully cover their university tuition fees. 

A total of 205 of the beneficiaries have graduated so far. 

In addition, more than 6,000 students in the region have received educational aid under the programme. 

At the Wednesday’s ceremony, attended by JOHUD Executive Director Farah Daghistani,  HRH Princess Basma, president of the campaign’s higher committee, voiced her appreciation for this “distinguished” partnership in providing education to students in need.

The Saad Abdul Latif Scholarship Programme was launched in memory of the late Saad Abdul Latif, former CEO of PepsiCo in Asia, Middle East and Africa, who announced the company’s commitment to donate $1 million annually to support education in the Arab world.