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AMMAN — The net profit of 188 out of 192 companies, listed in the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE), reported a total net worth of JD930.2 million by the end of 2019’s third quarter, according to ASE CEO Mazen Wathaifi.

The figure denoted a 0.3 per cent increase in comparison with JD927.7 million for the same period in 2018, Wathaifi added in a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

AMMAN — The Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission (EMRC) on Monday denied claims of having issued any new licences or permits for filling liquid petroleum gas cylinders.

Under the law, no entity is allowed to practise any activities on petroleum derivatives or establish a petroleum establishment without a licence or permit issued under the law and based on regulations, the commission said in a statement. 

The EMRC added that the only gas cylinder authorised for sale is of metal constructed in accordance with Jordanian standards, and no cylinders violating those standards are allowed in the market. 

AMMAN — The Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) launched its “Fazaa Ahil” campaign for the fourth consecutive year, with the objective of supporting needy families in the community by reconstructing their houses.

“It is clear as a bell the love and support Jordanians have shown for their underprivileged brothers and sisters, and how they have stood up for their people,” Moataz Shawareb, head of the campaign’s preparatory committee, told The Jordan Times on Monday, referring to donations from Jordanian citizens.

The JEA campaign “took on the responsibility” of improving the lives of people with low standards of living, Shawareb said, adding that the JEA is cooperating with the Ministry of Social Development to give priority to families in the greatest need. 

“Given the existence of a substantial number of underprivileged citizens in Jordan, JEA endeavours to grant them safe accommodation, which will shield them in winter and summer,” the official added.

This community-based programme has “achieved the ambitions of many”, through repairing 44 homes in 12 governorates in 2019, at a cost of JD3,000 to JD6,000 for each house, he said.

“So far we have achieved 90 per cent of the campaign’s goals, and 17 houses are currently being restored,” board member at JEA Bashar Tarawneh told The Jordan Times on Monday.

With the aid of social media, official letters to institutions, video footage of the houses before and after repairs and fund-raising football matches, hundreds of families have been helped, Tarawneh said.

AMMAN — Across Jordan, the registration for university student teams to take part in the annual Hult Prize, a $1 million global start-up prize, closed at the end of October.

At Al Zaytoonah University, a private university located in Amman, more than 250 people from different faculties registered to participate. 

“The Hult Prize is a worldwide platform for social entrepreneurship which focuses on university students to collect the best ideas from youth all over the world to create an impact and change the world through business,” Rami Al Samhouri, an Al Zaytoonah University student who is the associate campus director for the Hult Prize at the university, told The Jordan Times on Sunday. 

All over the Kingdom, teams consisting of three or four students are preparing for the regional competition, which is set to take place at the beginning of next year in Jordan and will give the winning team the chance to compete in the Hult Prize global finals in September 2020.

The prize is made possible by a partnership between Hult International Business School and the United Nations Foundation. Former US president Bill Clinton selects a challenge topic and announces the winner each September.

For this round, the Hult Prize challenges global teams “to build bold businesses that have a positive impact on the environment with every sale completed, dollar earned and decision made, reaching no fewer than a million consumers within a decade”, according to the prize website.

“At the Hult Prize we believe that the Earth doesn’t just need better advocates, it needs more powerful allies,” the website reads, adding that it also believes in “positive capitalism”.

This will be the third year that Jordan participates in the Hult Prize, after the Crown Prince Foundation (CPF) introduced what the UN calls “the world’s largest student competition” to Jordan.

"Bringing the Hult Prize to Al Zaytoonah University of Jordan is a great honour for me. It will allow me to be the change-maker I have always dreamed of becoming," said Lana Ghneim, Hult Prize campus director at Al Zaytoonah University.

"It's such a privilege to see my classmates becoming leaders who are changing the world for the better, from the organising committee to the participants", said Al Samhouri.

"I used to imagine that change comes from old people in high-level positions, but when we joined the organising committee, I figured out that change comes from us young people," said Rozana Twaissi, the marketing lead for the Hult Prize at Al Zaytoonah University.

Palestinian-American businessman Ahmad Ashkar founded the prize 10 years ago. In 2019, he was named one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Arabs by Gulf Business, and Entrepreneur of the Year in 2018 by GQ.

AMMAN — Japanese art, culture and language took centre stage at a two-day event organised by the Japanese embassy in Amman on Sunday and Monday at Al Hussein Cultural Centre. 

Jordanians of all ages and backgrounds were invited to experience firsthand the deep-rooted traditional Japanese arts of tea-making and calligraphy on Sunday, in an effort to spread Japanese culture in Jordan, according to event organisers. 

Japanese expert on the Japanese traditional tea ceremony (“Sa-dou”) and calligraphy (“Sho-dou”) Wakako Yamaguchi, who is also vice president of the Institute for Japanese Culture Experience and Education in Tokyo, Japan, led the two-part event. 

The event was attended by participants from the local community and Japanese ambassador to Jordan Hidenao Yanagi, who had the opportunity to watch Yamaguchi as she performed the traditional tea ceremony, which she compared to a “stage drama with several acts”.

She also explained the importance of the making, serving and drinking of the green tea in reflecting Japanese tradition and teaching values such as patience, hospitality and leadership. 

Yamaguchi then introduced the Japanese art of calligraphy and guided participants in writing Japanese characters with traditional tools. 

Ambassador Yanagi gave an address at the event, introducing Yamaguchi, who he said “tries to convey the spirituality of Japanese culture to foreign people in the English language”.

For her part, Yamaguchi told The Jordan Times that from these cultural events, she wants participants to “learn about spirit”, adding that “we have the same spirit, we feel… we admire, respect and love each other”. 

Doha Salama, a young attendee, told The Jordan Times: “I heard a lot about [Japanese] green tea and I saw a lot about their culture, traditions and hospitality on TV and how they serve tea to their guests. I have been wanting to taste it and to see firsthand how they make the tea and present it.”

AMMAN — Prime Minister Omar Razzaz and Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh on Monday agreed to create a joint government parliamentary committee to set the main features of the 2020 State Budget before its submission to Parliament.

The premier, Deputy Prime Minister Rajai Muasher and Finance Minister Ezzeddine Kanakrieh, during the meeting held in the Lower House and attended by a number of ministers and heads of parliamentary committees, went over the main features of the 2020 State Budget and budgets of independent public institutions.

In developing the 2020 budget, the government has adopted the outcome-driven approach, a comprehensive development tool, along with controlling expenditures, enhancing government revenues, stimulating the economy and boosting economic growth to create job opportunities for young people, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The government also reaffirmed its commitment to consulting Parliament, with its two chambers, to address the challenges that face the State Budget.

Tarawneh, during the meeting, presented proposals related to financial and administrative reform, drawing attention to tax burdens. 

A number of measures were also proposed to control the capital budgets of vital sectors including health and education, put forward means to activate public-private sector partnerships and support economic sectors that generate employment.

The opening of the fourth ordinary session of the 18th Parliament is scheduled for next Sunday, Petra added. 

AMMAN — To address recent incidents of hybrid cars catching fire, Toyota Jordan has invited automobile agency representatives and authorities concerned with the used-car market for a press briefing.

The briefing also involved the official importers of Toyota and Hyundai, two of the country’s biggest hybrid car sellers.

Hassan Elayyan, the director general of Unity Trading, which is the official importer of Hyundai in Jordan, stressed the need to “control the trade of used imported cars to better ensure their quality, given that most hybrid cars involved in accidents were found to be recycled in the free zone without supervision”.

He called on citizens to consult authorised centres, familiarise themselves with standards for quality and maintenance, and then apply for a thorough inspection by the centre before buying a hybrid vehicle.

“As Jordanian car dealers, an integral part of our responsibility is to educate citizens about the cars and how to maintain them. This is an issue of people’s lives; it cannot be ignored,” Nadeem Haddad, the general director of Toyota Jordan, said at the press conference.

He expressed his condolences to the victims of two recent hybrid car accidents, saying that this is what prompted the company to organise the conference.

“When it comes to imported used cars, we cannot guarantee their quality or ensure that they are free of defects. We cannot even ensure that they were reassembled in the free zone under supervision,” said Elayyan.

He demanded “more stringent” government regulations on the entry of used cars, requiring official certificates from the country of origin specifying their technical competence and level of safety in addition to the close supervision of garages in the free zone to avoid faulty re-assembly.

Amjad Zabin, general manager of Carseer, a company that provides a “comprehensive report on vehicle history, from the time of its manufacture until the moment of purchase”, said that consumers should “ensure that the hybrid battery is warranted and available in Jordan before buying a used car”.

“This is the most common problem we face. The car might be in overall good condition, but then the buyer realises that its battery is not found in Jordan. This is devastating news for the consumer, as the hybrid’s battery is arguably its most important part,” he added.

AMMAN — Combining his passions for adventure and helping his community, a 27-year-old Jordanian man realised his dream of starting a tour company, later garnering the encouragement of His Majesty King Abdullah.

Growing up on the outskirts of Madaba, in the small village of Maleiha, Anis Breizat told The Jordan Times that it has “always been his dream to show people the beauty of Jordan in a way that gives them a lasting impression”, and this dream came to fruition in his project, Al Heidan Adventure Centre.

Having worked as a tour guide since his university days, Breizat pitched his idea of creating a tourism company that offers tours through the waterways of Wadi Heidan to the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN).

According to Breizat, his idea represented the only local company scheme interested in making use of the area, and it was given priority by the RSCN, who told him to start recruiting a crew.

Breizat met His Majesty on Sunday, and briefed him about the project, which has grown and expanded since its creation three years ago.

In 2016, the company offered its first three-hour trip to local adventure lovers and tourists through the five-kilometre-long waterway, which is located at the top of the bigger and more well-known Wadi Mujib.

“Around 70 per cent of the people who sign up are locals, which is a great thing to witness,” he said.

In 2017, Breizat expanded his project to include the Panorama Dead Sea Complex under the Ministry of Tourism. The Complex consists of a museum that portrays the history of the area, a conference centre and a restaurant.

The tourism company and the Panorama Complex employ over 70 residents of the area, 40 of whom are on seasonal contracts, as the tours can only be given from April to October.

“Soon enough, with the support and encouragement of His Majesty and the RSCN, I hope to open a camping project that will tap into more local talents,” he concluded.

AMMAN — The National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) on Monday said that it had received over 100 claims of torture and cruel treatment at the hands of authorities, submitted by the families of prisoners and detainees in Jordan in 2018.

“We had 107 reported cases of people being abused, tortured and treated inhumanely by the authorities while in detention and correctional facilities,” said Commissioner General of the National Centre for Human Rights Mousa Burayzat.

Burayzat was speaking during a press conference at the NCHR headquarters to announce the findings of the 2018 report on the human rights situation in the country.

Torture is not a systematic practice among security agencies in Jordan, Burayzat said.

He added that there were 332 complaints against the cadre of the PSD, “but only 10 cases were referred to the police court, 240 were dropped and 31 cases were still pending further investigations”.

However, the NCHR commission added that the Transparency and Human Rights office at the PSD “is highly cooperative with our centre and is quick to respond to citizens’ complaints”.

The NCHR commissioner pointed out that 23 death sentences were given in 2018, five of which were reduced by the General Pardon.

“We did not have any executions last year and we are against the death penalty,” Burayzat said.

Turning to the issue of administrative detention, Burayzat told reporters that there were 37,683 individuals who were imprisoned in Jordan.

“We have had an increase in the numbers since 2017, when the number of people locked up in Jordan under administrative detention was 34,795,” he said.  

Burayzat also said that 757 cases pertaining to the freedom of expression and opinion were filed in 2018, resulting in the detainment of 130 people.

The report also pointed to rise in detention and prosecution of individuals for “speaking out on social media platforms”, participation in sit-ins and protests and expressing opinions using other means.

The number of cyber crime cases in 2018, according to Burayzat, reached 1,821 and resulted in the imprisonment of 161 individuals.

On the right to assembly, the NCHR cited a number of bans on public gatherings issued by administrative governors, however these measures did not prevent people from staging peaceful marches and demonstrations in protest against the policies and practices of the government, the NCHR commissioner said.

NCHR Chairman of the Board of Trustees Rohayel Gharaibeh said during the press conference that “the centre is a free entity that is not subjected to any form of pressure by any authority”.

“We work in a very professional manner and our main goal is to move forward with the human rights situation in Jordan,” Gharaibeh said.

The NCHR report also called for a “democratic process that would ensure effective political pluralism that would work towards eliminating the gap between citizens and the government as well as diminishing all forms of violations and obstacles that stand in the path of human rights in Jordan”.    

AMMAN —The water sector consumes some 14 per cent of the total energy used in the Kingdom, Water Minister Raed Abul Saud said on Monday.

He added that ensuring water and energy security is a “basic requirement” for achieving sustainable development.

Deputising for Prime Minister Omar Razzaz, Abul Saud attended the opening of a water and energy conference held at the Dead Sea, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Abul Saud, during the ceremony, said that the Kingdom has “managed to attract successful investments” in the field of renewable energy, calling for an integrated system that enhances water and energy security, as Jordan is one of the water-poorest countries in the world. 

The water sector consumes about 15 per cent of the electricity the country produces, Energy Minister Hala Zawati said at the conference, noting that electricity storage in dams could be one of the solutions, while highlighting the importance of the “changing patterns” of water consumption.

In relation to the water sector’s strategies to reduce energy costs, Zawati mentioned clean energy projects designated to serve the water sector, including the Maan-based wind energy project and the Quairah-based solar project, with a capacity of 100 megawatts each.

Ali Subah, general secretary of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, said that Jordan’s water per capita is less than 100 cubic metres, below the international water poverty line of 500 cubic metres per year.

Subah added that the growing demand for water is tied to regional instability, as well as groundwater depletion, in addition to high energy costs in the water sector.

The water sector’s energy bill in 2018 reached JD220 million, constituting 60 per cent of operating and maintenance expenditure, he said, adding that the percentage of water loss, due the need for pipe replacements, is estimated at 45 per cent.   

The two-day event was organised by the University of Jordan (UJ) with the support of the German Agency for International Cooperation to address emerging challenges facing the sectors of water and energy, which should be handled with a collaborative framework, UJ President Abdelkareem Qudah said.