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AMMAN — The Ministry of Water and Irrigation on Tuesday said that it had uncovered several violations on water mains in the Jiza area, which were used to illegally siphon off water to houses in the area.

The ministry said that, based on inspection campaigns and tip-offs received by the unified complaints centre at 117116, residents of Jiza said that they had not received water due to the illegal diversion of water, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The ministry set up a taskforce, in cooperation with the Amman governor, the Royal Badia Forces and the Water Authority of Jordan, which resulted in uncovering eight violations on water mains in Jiza to supply more than 25 houses and livestock barns with water amounts exceeding 500 cubic metres. 

The illegal fixtures were dismantled and an investigation is under way, Petra said.

The ministry underlined that the national campaign to end all forms of water theft and violations is still ongoing, urging the public to cooperate with the authorities by reporting violations on water resources and networks.

In 1997, the ministry banned the drilling of wells to limit random pumping of water and preserve aquifers from depletion and salinity.

International studies indicate that water levels at several aquifers have been dropping at a rate of one metre per year, according to the ministry, which noted that more than 50 million cubic metres of underground water are being extracted through indiscriminate pumping.

AMMAN — The Agriculture Ministry coordinates with farmers to protect local produce, the Jordan Valley Farmers Union said on Tuesday. 

There were reports of farmers protesting against the import of citrus fruits from abroad, President of the Jordan Valley Farmers Union Adnan Khaddam told The Jordan Times.

 He confirmed that Minister of Agriculture and Environment Ibrahim Shahahdeh has halted the import from the beginning of August until February next year in order to protect local fruit crops. 

"The farmers provided the ministry with the production rates and the minister took the decision based on them. Last year the sales of citrus fruit in particular went well," Khaddam said.

However, according to Khaddam, farmers are suffering in general because of the continuing deterioration of the sector. Around 23,000 of them are wanted in light of financial dues accumulated because of the loans they took to work on their lands and the losses they suffered afterwards, he said. 

Khaddam expected that the space of farming lands will drop down by 40 to 50 per cent as of this season, and said about 20 per cent of those who are able to retain their lands will not be able to handle the finances of farming and planting on them, which evinces how the sector is “falling apart and requires immediate attention”.

Nawash Al Yazjeen, a farmer from the Jordan Valley, told The Jordan Times that ever since the Syrian crisis and closures of borders in 2011, the export routes to Europe and Russia closed, which is "the main and direct reason why the agricultural sector in Jordan suffers".

Farmers are unable to practise their profession either because of accumulated debts, the inability to export or fear of investing and then suffering losses, he said.

"There is enough produce to cover the Kingdom's needs but the surplus goes nowhere and ends up turning into losses," Yazjeen said.

The private-sector factories that provide farmers with farming materials, such as fertilisers and agricultural vaccines, are in debt by more than JD450 million, according to Yazjeen. 

There used to be around 70,000 greenhouses in the Jordan Valley, 30,000 of which were designated for European and Russian produce.

The produce was delivered through Jordanian traders who had agreements with Russian and Turkish traders and transported it inside refrigerator trucks from the valley, so that in seven to eight days it would reach Europe and Russia through Syria and Turkey, he said. 

"The only solution is to find export routes to those markets as the government does not have enough money in the budget to support farmers, and using planes to deliver cargo would be very expensive,” he noted.

Citrus farmer Khaled Farah said that the import of the fruit has stopped, praising the minister's efforts to help farmers in this regard.

"Last year's season went well; this year's season is going well, and we hope that things turn out for the better in the future too," he said. 

AMMAN — The revenues of the telecommunications and information technology sectors by the end of 2018 reached $2.2 billion, marking a 4.5 per cent growth rate for the two sectors combined, the ICT Association of Jordan (Int@j) announced on Tuesday.

According to an Int@j survey, $1.42 billion of revenue was attributed to the telecommunications sector, with a growth rate of 1.5 per cent, and $750 million in revenue to the IT sector, that grew by 10.7 per cent, attributing this increase to tax incentives endorsed in 2016.

The survey was based on data Int@j collected from ICT companies in the Kingdom, and showed that Jordan is still a strategic destination for ICT sectors in the region, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

A total of 17,698 employees worked for the ICT sectors in 2018, without any change in the number when compared to 2017, Int@j said, noting that the sector witnessed “strong” female participation, as opportunities for women increased by 3 per cent. Males occupy 67 per cent of the total jobs in the sector.

As for exports, the IT sector’s exports in 2018 totalled $262 million, where the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Iraq amounted to 60.5 per cent of the sector’s exports, while local revenues stood at $487 million, which means that 65 per cent of the revenues were generated from the local economy, according to Petra. 

The association said that despite the 19 per cent increase in local IT revenue in 2018, the sector’s growth rate in revenue went down by 2.2 per cent.  

The investment volume in the telecommunications sector went down in 2018 by 9.5 per cent to $192 million, Petra reported. 

AMMAN — Prime Minister Omar Razzaz on Tuesday highlighted the importance of specialty health centres opened by the government in providing better services and mitigating the pressure on public hospitals.

During his visit to the Abu Nsair general health centre, recently turned into a specialty centre, Razzaz said the government has completed 12 specialty centres across the Kingdom. 

All centres will offer 24-hour emergency services as well as an in-house general practitioner, a pharmacy, an ambulance and a number of specialty clinics, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

AMMAN — Jordanian poet and novelist Yahya Nuaimi, also known as Amjad Naser, has been presented with the State Appreciation and Encouragement Award in the field of literature.

A Royal Decree issued last week, conferred the award on Nuaimiin light of his contributions to the literary field, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

During a felicitation ceremony, attended by Prime Minister Omar Razzaz, Minister of Culture Mohammad Abu Rumman shed light on the writer’s “esteemed stature” in the Arab cultural scene “in view of what he has contributed to literature, thought, culture and poetry”. 

AMMAN — The Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO) has received three trucks donated by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) to support the organisation’s logistical operations.

In a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, JHCO’s Secretary General Ayman Mifleh said the gesture reflects continued cooperation between the charity and TIKA.

He added that the partnership between the two sides is “strong and multifaceted”, noting their cooperation in distributing food care packages and aid to underprivileged families. The ceremony was attended by the Turkish minister of culture and tourism and TIKA’s president, according to Petra.

AMMAN — The National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) and the Jordanian-Egyptian FAJR for Natural Gas Transmission and Supply Company on Tuesday signed two agreements with two companies to provide them with natural gas. 

The first agreement stipulates providing the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC) with a daily supply of four million cubic feet of natural gas, while the other deal is an amendment to a gas provision agreement with the Nuqul Group, according to a statement by the Ministry of Energy. 

Energy Minister Hala Zawati said that the ministry effortlessly work to reduce the costs of energy bills through encouraging local industries to shift to natural gas, as part of the government’s endeavours to help these industries reduce operational costs and increase their competitiveness in the local and international markets. 

Zawati said that using natural gas will contribute to lowering the energy costs in factories by 25 to 55 per cent, depending on the type of the fuel replaced with the natural gas. 

With the aim of encouraging national industries to shift to natural gas, the government has granted exemptions mentioned in the Investment Law on devices and equipment used to connect factories with natural gas pipelines, the minister noted. 

She also added that the special tax imposed on natural gas for industrial usages has been reduced from 16 to 7 per cent, and companies that transfer to the use of natural gas have given exemptions from the special tax for three years.

NEPCO Director General Amjad Rawashdeh said that the company is keen on guaranteeing the security of power provision to generate electricity, including supplying local industries with the natural gas necessary for their operational needs.

JPMC Chairman Mohammad Thneibat highlighted the importance of the agreement in reducing the annual energy costs at the industrial complex in Aqaba from JD10 million to JD8 million.

FAJR Director Fuad Rashad said that the natural gas has contributed to enhancing development revenues through reducing costs and generating more jobs, urging industries to benefit from this opportunity and to shift to natural gas. 

AMMAN — The Arab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN) on Sunday signed an agreement with the University of Jordan to include students from the faculty of foreign languages in the group's activities supporting the local environment and Jordanian farmers. 

During the signing ceremony, APN General Manager Mariam Aljaajaa said that the agreement is the “first of its kind” and that it is signed in an attempt to institutionalise the work between the APN and the university's faculties, noting that the students' work will count as community service. 

Under the agreement, workshops and discussions will be held on campus to increase students' environmental awareness, under a programme named "If you knew". 

"Volunteerism is at the core of our work, focusing especially on young people, and increasing their awareness helps improve the future," Aljaajaa told The Jordan Times over the phone on Monday. 

Aljaajaa said that the faculty of foreign languages is “only the beginning”, with plans to cooperate with all faculties in the future. 

"Our aim is to have students think of a way that makes them productive and active in their communities, as well as ideas for protecting the land and agriculture in any way they can," she said, noting that foreign language students can help a lot to express such sentiments and work on research on local agricultural matters.

"Many students from the faculty were already actively working with us, and language students can usually express themselves well, which helps to kick off the work," the APN general manager said. 

AMMAN — Dressed in an oversized suit and coming off as a man beyond his years, His Majesty King Abdullah appeared without guards in photos taken during his recent undercover visit to the north Amman Department of Land and Survey, obtained exclusively by The Jordan Times on Monday.

A few days after the King sought to get a first-hand look at the quality of services provided to the public, Royal Hashemite Court Chief Yousef Issawi and Finance Minister Ezzedoine Kanakrieh paid a visit to the department to follow up on His Majesty’s remarks regarding what he observed at the public institution.

This is not the first time His Majesty has gone undercover.

In 2009, the King made a covert visit to the Health Ministry's Department of Patients Affairs to check on the quality of services offered to beneficiaries and would-be beneficiaries.

His Majesty has also posed as a TV reporter, a taxi driver and as an elderly man to check what life is like for citizens at various public agencies, a source told The Jordan Times. 

News outlets reported at the time of the King’s visit to the Department of Land and Survey that he listened to the concerns of citizens and the department’s employees.

In the photos, King Abdullah appears to be sitting along with other visitors to the department as the employees proceed with their daily routine.

In another photo, His Majesty, wearing a loose beige suit, is seen walking in what appeared to be the institution’s parking lot beside an elderly man wearing a black suit and a hatta (a national head cover worn by men), with no guards in the vicinity. 

During the visit to follow up on His Majesty’s remarks, Issawi said that the issues that His Majesty pointed out during his undercover visit will be addressed to guarantee quality services to citizens.

He highlighted the importance of improving the general condition of the department within a fixed time frame, calling for finding an immediate solution to delays and hurdles in evaluating the prices of real estate, which mainly depend on the “mood of employees”.

The King is also seen walking in the department’s parking lot in another photo, showing more wrinkles and an older appearance than usually perceived.

His Majesty has always underlined the need for officials to conduct field visits to the country’s various institutions to ensure the provision of quality services for Jordanians.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah, in a phone call on Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron, discussed bilateral ties and means to bolster cooperation in all areas, a Royal Court statement said.

The phone call covered regional developments, with King Abdullah calling for concerted international efforts in rejection of all unilateral measures that could undermine the two-state solution — the only solution to the conflict, which leads to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with Israel in peace and security.

His Majesty expressed appreciation for France’s and the European Union’s position in support of the two-state solution, stressing the importance of uniting international positions in this regard.

Later in the day, the King departed on a working visit to Germany, where His Majesty is holding talks on Tuesday with Federal President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on means to bolster cooperation, as well as current regional developments, according to the statement.

King Abdullah is also slated to head to New York City, where His Majesty will head Jordan’s delegation at the 74th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

HRH Prince Feisal was sworn in as Regent, in the presence of Cabinet members, the statement added.