Local

AMMAN — International agreements to protect and promote intangible cultural heritage (ICH) have only recently become an incentive for Jordan, according to a Jordanian expert 

In the past there was still inadequate awareness on the safeguarding of ICH among parts of the leadership at central and local levels, as well as among stakeholders themselves, said Professor Hani Hayajneh, the dean of Yarmouk University.

Jordan took scattered steps towards the awareness process concerning the importance of ICH, Hayajneh told The Jordan Times in a recent interview, adding that some previous projects only focused on documentation, which is just “the first step in the process of safeguarding ICH”.

Due to the limited ability in identifying various elements of cultural heritage, financial restriction and lack of human resources, some weak attempts towards safeguarding ICH elements were carried out separately, with a lack of interdisciplinary coordination, the dean said.

“There was very little involvement of the Jordanian community, which led to a big limitation of effects and sustainability of some of these projects,” he said.

However, the mission of safeguarding ICH in Jordan has gradually received more interest from the government, policymakers and community sectors of the Jordanian society, especially after Jordan ratified the 2003 UNESCO Convention for safeguarding ICH, Hayajneh noted.

Hayajneh stressed that systematic awareness programmes are needed to preserve the Jordanian heritage and “respected ministries in the country, i.e. the Ministries of Education, Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, and Higher Education, should take this responsibility”.

Formal and non-formal education play an important role in raising awareness about ICH, the scholar added.

“Collaborative processes in the country can engage all parties working in the field of ICH in conceptualising, producing and implementing educational projects to safeguard ICH and promote sustainable development,” Hayajneh said.

As for tourism, community centres can participate in raising awareness about the importance of participation in the planning and implementation of tourist development, as this will serve to mitigate the negative social aspects which tourism might bring and ensure that the benefits of tourism development reach the residents, Hayajneh concluded.

AMMAN — While Jordan witnesses rapid technological changes and a growing use of smart devices, Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Muthana Gharaibeh on Monday said that the final draft of the law on the protection of personal data will be referred to the Cabinet this November.

“The amount of personal data that exists online has increased a lot and in all sectors, especially the banking and communications sectors,” the minister told The Jordan Times.

The data now include “not merely a name and a mobile phone number, or even just a picture, they now include iris recognition, fingerprints, health details, locations and even transport routes", the minister added.

As it is easy to collect and analyse these data, there has to be a legal framework to protect personal information, preventing the violation of people's right to privacy, having the necessary protection to move their data across various sectors and completing online transactions safely, according to the minister.

Partners from the public and private sectors helped conduct various tours to finish the final and fifth draft of the law, the minister said, noting that the next step is to discuss the law internally mid-September in order to refer it to the Cabinet and continue the process to endorse the law.

The minister said that the legal framework of the law will bind institutions to commit to processing, analysing and storing data according to certain limitations that boost the trust needed to be more involved in digital economy and encourage e-commerce and online services, especially in light of the age of concepts such as Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Therefore, the law will allow each individual to exercise their right to protect their personal information, which is to be distributed only with their consent, allowing no violations or illegal leakage of the information whatsoever.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah has sent a cable to Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon on the occasion of his country’s independence day.

In the cable, King Abdullah expressed his well wishes to the president, and wished the people of Tajikistan further progress and prosperity, according to a Royal Court statement.

AMMAN — HRH Prince Ali, the president of the Jordan Football Association (JFA), on Sunday evening urged players of the national team to exert more efforts during the upcoming matches of the Asian qualifiers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the 2023 Asia Cup in China.

Prince Ali was keen on visiting the national team to ensure players’ readiness for the qualifiers, which Jordan began with a 2-1 win over Taiwan, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Monday. The Prince pointed to the team’s match with Paraguay on Tuesday, adding that they should make the most of friendly matches.

AMMAN — HH Prince Mired, president of the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, on Monday discussed with Minister of Social Development Basma Ishaqat procedural measures to implement the national strategy on alternatives to public and private shelters for people with disabilities. 

The Prince, during the meeting, called for concerted efforts to implement the national strategy, the first of its kind in the Arab world, designated to bolster people with disabilities’ independence, equality and freedom.

Ishaqat said that, in coordination with the concerned authorities, the ministry is working on improving the living conditions of people with disabilities, through transforming the sheltering system into more socially integrated environments, in favour of their best interests, in accordance with the Disability Human Rights Law.

Also on Monday, Prince Mired honoured medal-winning athletes of Jordan's Paralympic Weightlifting team Omar Qaradah and Abdulkareem Khatab for their achievements in Kazakhstan, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. Qaradah won a silver medal, while Khatab bagged a bronze medal.

AMMAN — The Jordan Housing Developers Association (JHDA) President Zuhair Omari on Monday warned of social impacts, including a rise in haphazard illegal construction, resulting from the public’s low purchasing power and plummeting apartment sales. 

The Department of Land and Survey (DLS) announced in its monthly report that total apartment sales in the Kingdom reached only 19,500 units from the start of 2019 until the end of August, compared to 22,500 in the first eight months of 2018, recording a 13 per cent decrease.

Omari had earlier said the sector had been witnessing a steep regression since 2015, citing the drop in Jordanians’ purchasing power as the main cause for the market’s troubles.

When asked about apartments sales in 2014, Omari said that around 41,000 were sold in that year. 

Apartments less than 120 square metres, which were sold in the first eight months of 2018 stood at 6,600, compared to 7,600 of the same size in the same period last year, according to the report. 

As for apartments sized between 120 and 150 square metres, a total of 6,700 were sold in the first eight months of 2019 compared to 8,100 in the same period of 2018.

Omari noted that high living costs have decreased people’s purchasing power, besides the increase of interest rate on housing loans, which he said should be lowered as well.

To mitigate the situation, Omari earlier suggested steps that the government could take, including exempting the first 150 square metres of an apartment from registration fees and scrapping the property transfer fees for apartments of all sizes, as such exemptions are currently restricted to apartments of up to 180 square metres only.

In light of the increase in land prices, Omari also suggested lifting the cap on the number of stories existing buildings are permitted to have.

“If the situation remains the same and nothing is done, we may not only be facing financial and housing problems, but issues of a social nature as well, as people could start building illegally anywhere in a haphazard manner,” Omari told The Jordan Times.

“People could start building more apartments and exceed the lawful limits, which could lead to disputes or create neighbourhoods with high crime rates. This has happened in many countries,” he added.

AMMAN — With the aim of building economic and social bridges between Germany and Jordan, German-Jordanian Raed Romhi is designing a project with short- and mid-term goals: Equipping young Jordanians with vocational skills and qualifying them for work in Germany.

“The point is to equip young Jordanians by giving them vocational training, teaching them the German language and providing them with community-based skills to be able to integrate into the German society and its multi-cultural labour market,” Romhi said.

Taking into consideration the increasing number of unemployed young Jordanians and Germany’s need for skilled labourers, Romhi said that the project his non-profit, one-man NGO is implementing will bring “win-win outcomes” for both countries.

The project will be centred around investing in the capabilities of young Jordanians and helping them find jobs in German companies, he said.

“To that end, those young people, who need to meet certain criteria, will be empowered with high-level technical, mechanical and handicraft skills to be able to work in the German industrial economy,” Romhi said in a recent interview with The Jordan Times.

“Industry economy is built by highly qualified technicians. This should be the basis of a stable economy. Germany needs these talents.”

Romhi said that Jordan produces highly qualified technicians with social responsibility. “This is the main framework of the project.”

He explained that the selection of candidates will be based on three factors: Vocational skills, scientific qualifications and social responsibility.

“By social responsibility, we mean being able to integrate within the multicultural German society and having both social roots and responsibility for left-behind families and societies.”

“In Germany, those skilled young Jordanians will be granted first-grade resident status,” he said.

The short-term objective of the project is to lay down the infrastructure for 100 young Jordanians per year to go and work in Germany, Romhi said, adding that increasing the number to around 500 will be the project’s long-term goal.

Romhi’s project, which he said will be implemented in cooperation with the concerned Jordanian and German agencies, will also entail encouraging German companies to open up subsidiaries and branches in Jordan and also benefit from Jordan as a hub in the region.

“Work is under way now with German companies, NGOs, chambers of commerce and associations to begin the procedural steps of the project. We are now evaluating the administrative and legal circumstances in Germany,” Romhi noted.

He said that the selected young Jordanians will receive vocational training (Ausbildung) in Germany. “This will be our target,” he added.

Romhi explained that the selected young Jordanians will enter a seven-month qualification phase during which they will receive German language courses, vocational training and social learning on how to integrate within a multi-cultural society.

“By next year, we expect the first batch of equipped young Jordanians to go to Germany.”

AMMAN — Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Energy Minister Hala Zawati on Monday attended the inauguration of the 24th World Energy Congress held in Abu Dhabi. 

The congress seeks to set an international roadmap for the future of energy through holding more than 80 roundtables on conventional and renewable energy, technological advancement in these fields and innovative ideas to boost their development. 

In a statement to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Zawati highlighted the significance of Jordan’s participation in the conference, which tackles creative technology in various energy fields. 

The minister described the conference as “the most important international gathering to discuss the future of energy, face the sector’s challenges and draw outlines for solutions”.

Zawati referred to her participation as an “opportunity to showcase Jordan’s experiences and discuss cooperation prospects with countries and institutions on the international level.”   

The energy minister pointed to the participation of 72 ministers and 500 CEOs from major international energy institutions in the conference’s current session. 

“The conference will act as an important platform to showcase the Kingdom’s investment opportunities in the field of energy and the progress made by Jordan’s energy system, in addition to exchanging perspectives on the latest developments in renewable energy and technology in the field,” Zawati said.  

AMMAN — Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides on Monday discussed means to enhance cooperation between the Kingdom and the EU.

During the meeting, Safadi expressed Jordan’s appreciation for its “effective and important partnership” with the EU and its keenness on boosting cooperation and coordination with the union, according to a ministry statement.

The minister also praised the EU’s support to the Kingdom to help it bear the repercussions of the Syrian refugee influx.

For his part, Stylianides said that the EU considers Jordan a main partner in the region and will continue supporting the Kingdom through multiple cooperation and partnership programmes, highlighting the importance of enhancing the EU-Jordanian partnership in all fields. 

Safadi and Stylianides also went over the latest regional developments and their repercussions on both sides, in addition to the developments in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

In this regard, the minister stressed that realising the joint goal of building security, stability and regional peace requires unified efforts aimed at reaching a just, permanent and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution that guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.  

He commended the EU’s stance that supports the two-state solution and reiterated the significance of the union’s political role in ending the dangerous stalemate in the peace process. 

Safadi called on the international community to continue honouring its commitment towards the Syrian refugees, warning, at the same time, of the repercussions of decreasing international support to refugees and host countries.

Pertaining to this, the minister highlighted the importance of providing enough support to the Kingdom to help it meet the needs of some 1.3 million Syrian refugees that it has welcomed.

AMMAN — Head of the Lower House's Foreign Affairs Committee Nidal Taani on Monday highlighted His Majesty King Abdullah's support in finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

During the committee's meeting with Syrian Chargé d’Affaires in Amman Shafiq Dayoub and an accompanying delegation, Taani highlighted the role of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army in preventing terrorist infiltration into the Kingdom, without interfering in the northern neighbour's affairs.

Talks also went over the importance of keeping the Jordanian-Syrian borders open, with Taani noting the strong link between the two nations and calling for the restoration of Jordanian-Syrian trade ties to the pre-crisis level, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Taani focused on activating the two countries' joint committees, mainly the economic one, as well as tackling outstanding issues including fees imposed on Jordanian trucks heading to Syria, and files related to water and the transport of goods.

He also touched on the issue of Jordanian detainees in Syria, emphasising the need to facilitate their return. 

The Syrian envoy expressed his country's keenness on developing mutual ties, expressing appreciation for the Kingdom's role in preventing extremists' infiltration into Damascus and shouldering the repercussions of hosting the Syrian refugees, which has put enormous pressure on the Kingdom’s resources, particularly water, energy and infrastructure.  

Dayoub said that Damascus has taken all necessary measures to welcome back its nationals who fled the country, adding that his country has introduced regulations for imports as a result of the crisis, excluding Jordan and Egypt from these conditions.

The diplomat extended an invitation to the Lower House and its Foreign Affairs Committee to visit Syria, adding that he looks forward to cooperating with Amman on Syria’s reconstruction.