Local

AMMAN — The relationship between Arab intellectuals and regimes does not necessarily entail conflict, according to renowned Egyptian novelist Youssef Ziedan.

Speaking at a lecture on the role of intellectuals in light of current events in the region held recently at Abdul Hamid Shoman Forum, Ziedan said intellectuals are not always victims of the authorities, citing examples from modern and classical Arabic literature.

“While regimes use weapons to suppress dissent, intellectuals can sharpen pens and target those very regimes. They can even be more effective than the weapons themselves,” the author said.

However, intellectuals — as a power within their own right — should work in harmony with authorities instead, to contribute to positive change in society, argued Ziedan, whose historical-theological novel “Azazeel” won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction or the “Arabic Booker” in 2009.

The author said that intellectuals, whom he described as figures whose opinions are heard and respected by the public, can inspire change in their communities through seemingly simple ideas.

Ziedan, who has written over 50 books, said this impact can be best described as “the butterfly effect” — the phenomenon referenced in chaos theory whereby “a minute localised change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere”, according to the Oxford Dictionary.

“[Palestinian poet] Mahmoud Darwish’s work is the best manifestation of the butterfly effect, as he summoned details from his childhood, such as the smell of bread and the sound of warplanes, and employed them within the structure of the text” to create a great poignant effect, he explained.

Ziedan — a university professor, public lecturer and columnist — said intellectuals should be aware of the impact that they have on the lives of others.

“The intellectual should enjoy subjective and objective traits; he/she should be educated and a good reader, someone whose impact is limitless,” the Egyptian author added.

Speaking to The Jordan Times about the recent wave of Arab uprisings referred to as the Arab Spring, Ziedan said that historically, revolutions have been the last of all means that humans have resorted to, only when all other options were not viable.

AMMAN — Several MPs criticised the government on Tuesday for its “slow response” to their questions.

At a Lower House session where ministers provided answers to 46 questions, deputies Mahmoud Kharabsheh, Mustafa Rawashdeh, Amer Bashir and Rula Hroub insisted on the need to ensure that the government take MPs’ questions seriously.

The legal duration for the government to reply to any question is eight days starting from the date its is posed, but parliamentary sources told The Jordan Times that some of the questions that the government has recently answered were asked almost a year ago.

In reply to a question by MP Mohammed Qatatsheh (Tafileh, 1st District), the government said it has 65 vehicles in use by employees at the prime minister’s office.

The MP called on the Audit Bureau to monitor the movement of these cars, noting that most of them are SUVs. He urged the government to stop using them immediately to save fuel expenses.

Also during the session, Deputy Wafaa Bani Mustafa (Jerash, 1st District) defended the House-based “Mubadara” (initiative) group.

“I really don’t know why people are fighting it,” she said.

The Mubadara group has engaged with the government in efforts to find solutions to deep-rooted problems, including human rights and education.

MP Hind Fayez (Central Badia) wondered why the Lower House referred the initiative’s leader, Deputy Mustafa Hamarneh (Madaba, 1st District), alone to the House’s disciplinary committee after a verbal altercation with MP Abdul Karim Dughmi (Mafraq, 1st District) over remarks on the role of tribalism in the country.

On Monday, Dughmi criticised Hamarneh for ideas he discussed during a recent lecture, warning that tribes might evolve into “unarmed militias” if no proper political environment is created for political activism based on platforms.

In the same session, Dughmi accused Hamarneh of humiliating tribes and when the discussion evolved into a heated argument, he charged that the Madaba deputy is a “collaborator with the Americans”.

In his response to Dughmi’s allegations, the Mubadara leader explained that he believes building a civil and modern state should be based on citizenship rather than any other affiliation.

On Tuesday, Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh refused to discuss the altercation and told Fayez the “decision has been already taken” in the matter.

Mubadara, which has attracted over 20 House members, has agreed with the government to grant husbands and children of Jordanian women married to non-Jordanians full civil rights. The move triggered criticism among tribal figures and other critics, who charged that it constitutes a prelude to settling Palestinian refugees permanently in Jordan.

According to members of Mubadara, the initiative represents “new blood and a new reality” in Parliament, where the old guard with established interests resists modernists.

They noted that they already have achieved progress, having developed novel, result-oriented tools to interact with governments as legislators.

For the past months, Hamarneh has been leading his group seeking to partner with the government and pave the way for a shadow government, a novel practice in the county’s parliamentary history.

AMMAN — The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) on Tuesday officially announced the signing of an agreement with local company Madfoo3atCom for Electronic Payments to launch software enabling citizens to settle their private sector and government bills online.

Through the software eFAWATEERcom (meaning “your e-bills”), people with bank accounts will be able to see their bills the moment they are issued and can settle them online immediately whether through ATMs or through mobile or Internet banking, Maha Bahou, executive manager of the payment systems department at CBJ, told reporters.

Nasser Saleh, CEO and founder of Madfoo3atCom, said that the service, which is scheduled to be launched by late March or early April, will cover electricity and telephone bills.

“I expect water bills to be covered by the programme in a very short time after the soft launch,” Saleh told reporters.

Citizens will not pay any fees for settling their bills when using eFAWATEERcom, Bahou noted.

“When it comes to paying for government services such as taxes through the programme… there will be some fees on users depending on the volume of the amount to be paid,” she added.

All banks in Jordan will be connected to the software, which was developed by Jordanian company Madfoo3atCom for Electronic Payments.

eFAWATEERcom will allow beneficiaries to cover electricity, phone, water, education, healthcare, travel and tourism, e-Commerce and insurance bills, in addition to government fines, property taxes and other fees, subsequently ensuring “fast, low-cost transactions” for all involved parties.

According to Bahou, those wishing to benefit from the service will need to fill out a form at their banks with the number of their electricity and water meters, and details on the properties they own. Their bills will then be sent to them online by the end of each month.

“I expect the service to improve the collection of revenues for utilities, and private sector and government agencies. People will not have to go through the hassle of queuing or carrying cash. They can settle all bills anywhere,” she said.

Commenting on the deal, Yousef Hamidaddin, Oasis 500 CEO, noted that Madfoo3atCom is one of the companies that Oasis 500 invested in.

Since its launch, Oasis 500, an early stage and seed investment company, has invested in more than 65 start-ups in the ICT sector, said Hamidaddin.

AMMAN — UNICEF has proposed major amendments to the Juvenile Law that seek to raise the age of criminal responsibility from seven to 12 years of age.

“We would [have liked] to raise it to 18; still this is a good step. We really advocate for it to be passed this year,” said Michele Servadei, UNICEF’s deputy representative to Jordan.

“In many cases, children commit minor crimes, and if we give them rehabilitation and proper services, we hope it is passed and is given priority,” Servadei told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

Thus, UNICEF and other Jordanian partners proposed major amendments to the law, including adopting the rehabilitation approach instead of punishment, he added.

The proposed law is a complete makeover of the old one, according to Maha Homsi, chief of child protection at UNICEF Jordan.

The current law went into effect in 1968.

Homsi explained that the new law represents a “paradigm shift” from a punitive outlook of the juvenile into a restorative one, safeguarding the child’s well-being and ensuring his/her reintegration into society.

The new law adopts a social reform view of the child, and ensures that children are treated in a manner that facilitates their reintegration into society, she noted.

“This includes measures such as the establishment of specialised police, prosecution and judiciary system; an alternative sentencing system to detention such as community service, rehabilitation courses and psychosocial support,” Homsi told The Jordan Times in an interview via e-mail.

The proposed law broadens the definition of a child in need of protection, adding categories like working children and offenders younger than 12 years of age. It also includes a provision on legal aid to children by the government, she added.

The Ministry of Social Development is a strong advocate for the amended law and has helped shape it, Homsi said, adding that the National Council for Family Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Judicial Council also support the proposed changes.

In 2013, 2,121 children were being held in juvenile centres, according to figures she cited.

“Statistics show that 80 per cent of those juveniles commit minor offences that could be resolved through mediation, community rehabilitation programmes or community service, rather than placement in institutions where they are exposed to hard core juveniles who [have] committed serious crimes,” Homsi noted.

She also cited a pilot project that was implemented in Jordan, through which 28 youths were referred from detention centres to rehabilitation programmes, and the results showed that over a short-term follow-up period, most youths did not re-offend, with a very low recidivism rate of 11 per cent.

“Short-term effects of the pilot programme on diversion include increases in youth self-control, selection of pro-social peers, and increases in parental monitoring,” Homsi explained, adding that parent responses to semi-structured interviews suggest that diversion reduced the stigma and the negative influence of incarcerated delinquent peers on their sons.

AMMAN — The Kingdom is facing a drought threat which will have a negative impact on water storage and crops if it persists, officials warned on Tuesday.

The current dry conditions and prolonged unseasonable high temperatures are raising concerns of water and agriculture officials, who expressed hope for sufficient rain to come during this and the next month.

“This lack of rain, coupled with high temperatures is worrisome. Dams have lower rain storage than last year and the stored water is being pumped to crops and trees to protect them against the damage of drying up,” Jordan Valley Authority Secretary (JVA) General Saad Abu Hammour told The Jordan Times in a phone interview.

The dams currently have 140 million cubic metres (mcm), or 43 per cent of their total capacity of 325mcm, which is 14 per cent less than the amount stored at the dams during this time last year of 186mcm, according to official figures.

“The dams didn’t receive any water since December’s snowstorm; moreover, so much water is being pumped from the dams to ‘orweh tishrineye’ crops and trees because of the lack of rain and the high temperatures,” Abu Hammour said.

Orweh tishrineyeh is a local agricultural term that refers to winter crops planted at the end of each year, when farmers grow vegetables in the Jordan Valley. Different kinds of vegetables are cultivated during this period, including cucumber, tomato, eggplant and zucchini.

Farmers rely on rainwater for irrigating their winter crops; however, the JVA increases the amount of water allocated for irrigation if the rainy season comes late, according to the authority, which said that a total of 100mcm is required for the irrigation of orweh tishrineye crops.

Highlighting this year’s exceptionally dry conditions, Abu Hammour said the authority usually pumps water for the irrigation of trees at the onset of summer, but due to the insufficient rain, irrigation of trees started earlier this year.

“We usually start pumping water for the irrigation of trees on June 1… but this year, we have already started supplying trees with water twice a week… expectations of this wet season are not so good,” the official noted.

More than 360,000 dunums in the Jordan Valley are cultivated and irrigated, but Jordan depends on rain to replenish underground aquifers and reservoirs, the main source of its domestic water supply. The Kingdom has no major rivers or lakes to meet the demands of its over six million people.

Water Ministry Spokesperson Omar Salameh said the ministry is drawing up an emergency plan that will go into effect if the drought continues.

“The ministry is bracing for the worst. It is drafting a plan which will be ready soon. It will propose ways to balance water supply and demand in light of the lack of rain and expected surge in demand for water as summer starts,” Salameh told The Jordan Times.

A meteorologist at the Jordan Meteorological Department said on Tuesday that temperatures over the past month have been at least seven degrees above their annual average during this time of the year of 13°C and less.

“Daytime temperatures have risen above 20°C several times during the past month with no substantial rain during marbaniyeh,” the meteorologist told The Jordan Times.

The country typically witnesses several depressions during marbaniyeh, the local name given to the 40 coldest days of winter. The Kingdom usually gets 30 per cent of its long-term annual average rainfall during this period, which started in late December and ended last week.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Ministry Spokesperson Nimer Haddadin said that despite the lack of rain since December last year, crops remain unaffected, so far.

“The soil still holds some humidity since the snowstorm. The crops so far are safe, but if the drought continues, farmers will incur losses,” Haddadin told The Jordan Times.

He underscored that wheat and barley in particular have not been affected yet by the lack of rain.

AMMAN — The Joint Higher Jordanian-Egyptian Committee will convene in Cairo on Tuesday and pave the way for further cooperation between the two countries, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Co-chairing the meetings of the committee’s 24th session, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour and his Egyptian counterpart Hazem Beblawi will discuss means to advance the ongoing cooperation and attend the signing of several agreements.

They will also work to maintain political coordination on regional and international issues.

The premier, who arrived in Cairo on Monday evening to start a two-day official visit, is also scheduled to meet with Egypt’s interim president, Adli Mansour, and the country’s military chief, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Al Sisi.

Several officials, including Energy Minister Mohammad Hamed, Labour Minister Nidal Katamine and Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani are accompanying the premier.

On Monday, Jordan and Egypt held preparatory meetings that were chaired by Industry and Trade Minister Hatem Halawani and Egypt’s Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Ashraf El Sayed El Araby, following the technical committee meetings where officials from the two countries worked out the main issues that will be submitted to the preparatory ministerial meetings and subsequently to the joint higher committee, according to Petra.

Industry and Trade Ministry Secretary General Maha Ali, who chaired the Jordanian delegation during the technical committee meetings, was quoted by Petra as saying that the two sides agreed on agreements and executive programmes in various fields of cooperation, including vocational training, culture, tourism and exports.

Discussions also focused on bilateral cooperation in areas of transport, health, medicine, electricity, energy, agriculture, industry, housing and education, she added.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday met with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim in Washington and discussed means to develop cooperation.

The King voiced his appreciation for the bank’s support to Jordan in implementing its economic programmes, in addition to its support for national development plans to enable the country to overcome current challenges, especially those resulting from regional crises, according to a Royal Court statement.

His Majesty highlighted the comprehensive reform process Jordan is embarking on, particularly in the economic field, citing the endorsement of new laws that have had a positive impact on economic development and investments.

He acquainted Kim with the “huge” economic challenges facing Jordan due to regional unrest, especially the burdens imposed due to hosting a large number of Syrian refugees.

His Majesty highlighted the importance of the World Bank’s support to Jordan as it deals with the burdens resulting from the Syrian refugee crisis, urging the international community to increase its assistance to the Kingdom, especially its local communities.

For his part, Kim said the World Bank will continue to offer technical and development support to the Kingdom within the partnership strategy between them, adding that the international organisation will also continue to support Jordan’s economy and sustainable development plans.

He expressed faith in Jordan’s ability to overcome various economic challenges in its way, stressing his commitment to holding meetings with King Abdullah for consultations over regional challenges to include His Majesty’s vision in World Bank plans and future programmes.

Royal Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh, King’s Office Director Imad Fakhoury and Jordan’s Ambassador to the US Alia Bouran attended the meeting.

In an interview with the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Kim said the World Bank is grateful to Jordan for hosting such a great number of Syrian refugees.

He added that he discussed with the King the World Bank’s assistance to Jordan, which includes $150 million, in addition to $60 million to support municipalities.

Kim said the bank will continue cooperating with Jordan, and that it is currently looking into its assistance to the Kingdom for 2014.

The World Bank will continue providing its assistance in the form of direct support to Jordan’s state budget to enable the government to sort its priorities and bolster the reforms it has adopted in public spending, managing the public debt and enhancing the Kingdom’s business environment.

AMMAN — Two key House members traded verbal attacks on Monday on the backdrop of remarks made by one them over the role of tribalism.

Deputy Abdul Karim Dughmi (Mafraq, 1st District) criticised MP Mustafa Hamarneh (Madaba, 1st District) for ideas he discussed during a recent lecture, warning that tribes might evolve into “unarmed militias” if no proper political environment is created for political activism based on platforms.

Dughmi accused Hamarneh of humiliating tribes and when the discussion evolved into a heated argument, he charged that the Madaba deputy is a “collaborator with the Americans”.

Hamarneh leads the House-based Mubadara (initiative) group, which has engaged with the government in efforts to find solutions to deep-rooted problems, including human rights and education.

The group, which has attracted over 20 House members, has agreed with the government to grant husbands and children of Jordanian women married to non-Jordanians full civil rights. The move triggered criticism among tribal figures and other critics, who charged that it constitutes a prelude to settling Palestinian refugees permanently in Jordan.

According to members of “Mubadara”, the initiative represents “new blood and a new reality” in Parliament, where the old guard with established interests resists modernists.

They noted that they already have achieved progress, having developed novel, result-oriented tools to interact with governments as legislators.

In his response to Dughmi’s allegations, the Mubadara leader explained that he believes building a civil and modern state should be based on citizenship rather than any other affiliation.

For the past months, Hamarneh has been leading his group seeking to partner with the government and pave the way for a shadow government, a practice not familiar in county’s parliamentary history.