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AMMAN — The current drought conditions do not necessitate dispensing compensation to farmers, Agriculture Ministry Secretary General Radi Tarawneh said on Wednesday.

He added at an open day organised by the Jordan Agricultural Engineers Association that the volume of agricultural exports and their contribution to the gross domestic product is around JD1 billion, which shows how important this sector is.

Tarawneh said the poultry sector in the Kingdom has witnessed remarkable growth, with production reaching self-sufficiency.

AMMAN — Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Joëlle Milquet and an accompanying delegation visited the border guards on Tuesday.

The delegates were briefed on the guards’ duties and humanitarian efforts exerted to provide Syrian refugees with the best services.

AMMAN — The Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD) on Wednesday launched the activities of the 2014 Queen Alia Competition for Social Responsibility.

This year’s theme is solar energy and its uses.

The annual award also challenges young Jordanians to come up with designs for eco-friendly houses.

Organised by JOHUD, the competition seeks to shed light on prominent issues such as water, environment and health, and raise public awareness on ways to help address the issues.

AMMAN —– Foreign Ministry Secretary General Mohammad Thaher on Wednesday received copies of the credentials of Boris Bolotin and Mohammad Firani, the newly appointed ambassadors of Russia and Libya to Jordan.

Discussions during the ceremony covered bilateral ties and means to develop cooperation at all levels.

AMMAN — The Justice Centre for Legal Aid on Wednesday opened its 23rd legal clinic, located in Ajloun Governorate.

Centre Chairman Salah Bashir said the clinic will provide legal services to underprivileged people through consultation and representation, in addition to implementing awareness programmes that acquaint residents with their rights, according to a statement.

More than 10,000 legal services have been provided by the centre since its establishment in 2008, according to Bashir, who added that some 1,000 lectures have been held by the centre and attended by about 30,000 people.

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the general framework for following up on projects implemented under the executive plan of the National Integrity Charter.

Under the framework, the Council of Ministers will hold a coordination meeting with the Royal Committee for Enhancing National Integrity, in addition to forming a higher steering committee headed by Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour to discuss challenges facing the panel.

The Cabinet called on government agencies to pay their outstanding financial dues to the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company.

The Council of Ministers also endorsed draft amendments to the Civil Status Law.

AMMAN — The Ministry of Social Development is currently implementing a pilot foster care programme, a ministry official said on Wednesday.

The pilot programme seeks to gauge the impact of the inclusion of children within families, according to Fawaz Ratrout, the ministry’s spokesperson.

“Every child deserves to live in a family environment, but we have to examine the results of the study we are conducting before developing laws in this regard,” Ratrout told The Jordan Times.

He explained that the foster care study involves children whose identity is known, but are either infants or have been abandoned by their families.

In addition, he noted that the foster family should have children of its own, unlike in adoption cases where eligible families should not have children.

The system implemented in Jordan at present is the adoption of children of unknown identity, according to Ratrout, who said 1,069 children were adopted in Jordan between 1967 and 2013.

Currently, the number of families on the waiting list is 134, “but there are only 11 [eligible] children at our care centres”, he added, noting that a child should stay for at least three months at a care centre before adoption.

“Sometimes, we manage to find the biological family of a child, and this is the reason for keeping them at the care centres for a while.”

AMMAN — The economy remains Jordan’s biggest concern due to its direct influence on the living conditions of Jordanians, especially the middle class, a senator said on Wednesday.

“Jordan will remain open to all possible energy markets,” Senator Samir Rifai said in a lecture at the University of Jordan, adding that diversifying resources is aimed at cutting down the energy bill.

To avoid the “expected” increase in the Kingdom’s public debt to JD21 billion by the end of this year, Jordan must exert more effort in attracting investments, according to Rifai.

Priority should be given in the state budget to projects that employ large numbers of Jordanians and adopt “real” partnerships with the private sector, the former prime minister noted.

“Increasing taxes and fees, however, will deepen the problem,” he said, adding that the middle class should return to its “pioneering” position.

Addressing Jordan’s internal and external challenges, Rifai stressed the importance of sustaining “open channels of communication” with groups and parties across the political spectrum, urging young Jordanians to participate in political life.

In a step to encourage decentralisation, he suggested the formation of elected local councils in governorates to contribute to the decision-making process.  

Rifai said regional unrest, the lack of solidarity among Arab countries and developments in the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations are some of the Kingdom’s major external challenges.

“A peaceful political solution to the Syrian crisis is not likely to take place anytime soon,” he said, highlighting Jordan’s need for “clearness and decisiveness” in dealing with the issue in a way that halts the influx of refugees to the Kingdom.

Rifai reaffirmed the Kingdom’s commitment to the Palestinian conflict.

“The lack of strong and influential Arab allies to [support] the Palestinians in their attempt to reach a fair settlement and establish an independent Palestinian state… adds to Jordan’s commitment to the historic and ties [with Palestine],” the senator said.

He added that if US Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace plans do not succeed, the political arena will witness other efforts to bring about peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

AMMAN –– There is a thriving “black market” for trading hybrid cars in Jordan, according to Nabil Rumman, president of the Jordan Free Zone Investors Association.

Rumman explained that some traders purchase old cars, which are supposed to be scrapped, and trade them in for fuel efficient cars to benefit from the tax discount. 

In a bid to renew the cars in Jordan and to address the country’s fuel bill, in June 2012, the Cabinet decided to reduce the tax on small-engine hybrids from 55 per cent of the value of the vehicle to 25 per cent and to place a five-year age limit on all vehicles entering the local market.

The decision also granted motorists who trade in cars that are 10-years-old or more, a further tax discount, under which they pay 12.5 per cent in a special tax for hybrids while their old cars are scrapped.

Rumman told The Jordan Times recently that some traders search for cheap old cars that “should not be driven on the Kingdom’s streets” so they can buy hybrids. 

Official figures indicate that hybrid imports increased by nearly six fold last year, totalling 14,565 cars, compared with 2,598 vehicles in 2012. 

“Sales of hybrids went up mainly because of the old cars that were traded in for fuel-efficient ones,” Rumman noted, adding that the number of motorists who purchased green cars subject to the 25 per cent tax was relatively small.

AMMAN — Scrap collection is a new form of child labour that poses physical, psychological and moral hazards to children in the Kingdom, a research paper released on Wednesday warned.

An increasing number of children are seen, either alone or in the company of their families, searching through garbage containers for reusable items as well as on dumpsites, the research paper on children engaged in scrap collection indicated.

It noted that these children work between nine and 12 hours per day, face the risk of injuries and car accidents and do not eat proper meals. 

In addition, they are exposed to bad weather conditions, exploitation and abusive language, as well as fumes emanating from garbage, such as methane.

The possible health effects of inhaling methane in high concentrations include higher breathing and pulse rates, a lack of muscular coordination, emotional upset, nausea and vomiting, loss of consciousness, respiratory collapse and death, according to the research paper.

The study is part of the “My Dream…My Right” national campaign, which was launched on Wednesday by Save the Children. 

The campaign is organised under Save the Children’s Promising Future project, which seeks to reduce child labour in the Kingdom by providing educational services and strengthening the livelihoods of the families of working children, according to organisers.

The national campaign also features the launch of a short documentary titled “Living on Scrap”, as well as research findings related to three themes: homebound girls, children in scrap collection and a student risk assessment. 

In addition, it will include an awareness campaign and the development of key policy recommendations, according to the organisation.

Labour Ministry Secretary General Hamadah Abu Nejmeh said the problem of child labour has increased over the past two years due to the Syrian crisis and its impact on the national economy.

“There is a real problem regarding the actual number of working children, the sectors where child labour is most common, and miscoordination between agencies and entities dealing with child labour issues and refugees,” Abu Nejmeh added during the event.

Official figures put the number of working children in the Kingdom at around 30,000. According to the law, the minimum age for regular work is 16, and 18 for hazardous work, which the Labour Ministry defined in 1997 as dangerous, tiring or harmful to the health of juveniles.

The research paper cited scrap collection as one of the worst forms of child labour, noting that these children work because their income is needed to support their families.

The paper also concluded that although Jordan is committed to combating exploitative child labour, at present Syrian children are being pushed into working because their parents are not allowed to work.

According to the
UNCHR, 107,300 Syrian refugees registered in Jordan are children aged between one and four, while around 117,000 are under 11 years.

Saba Mobaslat, director of Save the Children programmes in Jordan, noted that despite the government’s efforts to develop a legal and policy framework to eradicate exploitative child labour, significant gaps in the system still exist.

She said the current legislation offers no protection for children engaged in the worst forms of child labour, highlighting that although education is mandatory until the age of 16, this law is currently not enforced.