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AMMAN — The Ministry of Social Development on Monday said it closed a private disability care centre in Amman, citing its failure to meet required standards.

In a statement sent to The Jordan Times, the ministry said the closure of the centre is due to the facility’s various violations, and will be temporary until the centre rectifies its status.

The ministry added that it has issued four warnings to other centres since the beginning of the year due to the absence of safety standards.

Last year, the ministry shut down eight centres and issued warnings to 14 others.

The ministry stepped up its efforts to inspect care centres in 2012 after a documentary aired by the BBC featured children being abused in several special education centres, turning the matter into an issue of public concern.

Following the documentary, His Majesty King Abdullah paid unannounced visits to several special education centres and issued directives to the government to investigate all facilities providing services to people with disabilities and hold accountable every person involved in violations.

To this end, the Social Development Ministry formed a committee to investigate the alleged violations, which is continuing to examine the situation of orphans and disability care centres across Jordan.

Several centres have been closed down or received warnings since then, while legal action has been taken against staff members found responsible for violations.

Also on Monday, the ministry announced that it dissolved 29 charities in 2013.

The decision was taken because these charities had not been active for a whole year, according to the ministry’s spokesperson, Fawaz Ratrout, who added that some of these charities violated the objectives of their registration.

In addition, the Social Development Ministry has formed 40 interrogation committees since the beginning of the year to investigate financial and administrative complaints against 40 charities.

Currently, there are 3,800 associations under the authority of the ministry.

DABAA — A lack of essential services has made it difficult for one Syrian tribe to stay at a makeshift camp that they have been calling home for the past few months.

Members of Al Aboud tribe from the Syrian city of Idlib set up camp on a farm located in the Dabaa area, an hour-and-a-half drive south of the capital, after they found the Zaatari Refugee Camp uncomfortable for their families.

Mahmoud Al Aboud said he only spent three hours in the Zaatari camp, and he could not stand staying there.

“My family did not feel comfortable there, so I decided to leave the camp. I even did not mind staying in the desert; I just wanted to make life as easy as possible for my family,” he told The Jordan Times at his tent.

He said his family were worried about having their female relatives living in an “exposed environment” where there is little privacy, among other safety concerns.

Mahmoud and another 110 Syrian refugees are currently staying at a facility that used to be a poultry farm at an olive orchard owned by a Saudi national.

The facility currently houses around 17 tents, where more than 50 per cent of the residents are children.

Mahmoud noted that he learned about the location of the farm from a friend of his.

“In the beginning, we stayed outside the farm. Gradually, I erected my tent in the orchard and a number of my relatives followed suit,” he recalled.

When the snowstorm hit the Kingdom last December, the tents flooded and the situation became very difficult.

“After that, the owner of the farm found out about us and decided to let us stay there,” Mahmoud added.

But living conditions have been less than ideal.

Alwan, father of three, said the place does not include bathrooms or kitchens.

“There is a small tent for women to cook, but it is not very suitable for cooking, to be honest,” he told The Jordan Times outside the kitchen.

Alwan said they need water because the farm’s water is only suitable for irrigation.

Omar, father of five, said his family and relatives do not have warm clothes for winter.

“We left all our belongings in Syria when we moved to Jordan. Winter here [on the farm] is really cold, and the children need heavy clothes,” he added.

But Al Aboud tribe members have few other choices, according to Mahmoud, who said that his fellow tribesmen cannot afford to rent apartments.

Instead of waiting for others to send them aid, the refugees are always on the lookout for jobs to secure a decent living.

“We don’t like to receive relief items from charities because we want to work and financially help our families,” Mahmoud added,

“We only work at this farm, and it is a seasonal job because this farm only has olive trees. Our job is done when the season is over,” he said, adding that they are paid JD7 a day.

Most refugees in the makeshift camp are registered with the UNHCR, according to Mahmoud.

“I go to Mafraq city in the north to get my food voucher, worth JD240, because we are registered there. I have to get a car or a bus to get there, which costs me JD75,” he added.

Kanaan, a fellow tribesman, said it is also difficult for refugees to receive health services because most places are far from the farm.

The nearest city is in the Zizia area, which is a one-hour drive from the farm, according to Mahmoud.

“If I want to get bread for my family I have to go there,” Kanaan added.

For children, life in the camp can be boring.

Abdul Munem said leisure time activities are limited.

“We only play either marbles or football. There is nothing else to do,” the 12-year-old added.

Seven-year-old Nadia said she misses going to school.

“My favourite subject is Arabic, and I would love to be back in school to take it,” she added.

Despite all its disadvantages, Al Aboud tribe members see the farm as a place they can call home, according to Mahmoud.

“We won’t leave this place; we feel safe here, but we pray every day that stability will be regained in Syria so that we can go back to our country.”

AMMAN — The government will soon sign two agreements with Jordanian-Egyptian Fajr Company for Natural Gas to allow for the transfer of gas imported from global markets to electricity generating plants via the Arab Gas Pipeline, Energy Minister Mohammad Hamed said on Monday.

Under the first agreement, Aqaba's new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Terminal will be connected to the Arab Gas Pipeline, which is currently used to channel Egyptian natural gas into Jordan, Hamed said.

Whereas under the second agreement with the Egyptian-owned company, gas imported from global markets — after being channelled and processed through the Aqaba terminal — will be allowed to pass through the pipeline along with Egyptian gas to reach electricity generating plants around the Kingdom, Hamed told The Jordan Times.

“This will ensure the diversification of energy resources and preclude the disruption of the LNG supply used to generate electricity,” he noted.

Underlining the importance of the agreements, the minister said they should have been signed years ago. Now that the Aqaba terminal construction is coming along, the agreements will help Jordan have a diversity of pure resources by no later than November this year, he added.

The Council of Ministers on Sunday approved the two agreements and delegated Hamed to sign them.

Ongoing disruptions in Egyptian gas supplies have exerted pressure on the government to look for alternatives, especially since the national annual energy bill has grown to some JD4.4 billion, with the cost of electricity subsidies reaching over JD1 billion.

The Kingdom annually imports over 96 per cent of its energy needs.

AMMAN — There are no plans to raise tuition fees at the Kingdom’s public universities for BA students, Higher Education Minister Amin Mahmoud said on Monday.

The University of Jordan (UJ) plans to raise fees for postgraduate students, and international and parallel programme students, Mahmoud said, stressing that there will be no changes to tuition fees of regular programmes.

“We reject any plan to increase the tuition fees of regular programmes at any university,” Mahmoud told The Jordan Times over the phone, adding that even the planned increase for other programmes at UJ will be discussed.

“We have no jurisdiction over a university’s internal issues, but we will discuss other alternatives with the UJ administration to avoid the hike,” he noted.

Earlier this week, UJ announced a plan to raise the tuition fees of postgraduate, parallel and international programmes for the 2014-15 academic year.

UJ President Ekhleif Tarawneh said the administration has studied other alternatives, such as regulating investments at the university and cancelling courses with low demand to avoid any hike in tuition.

“We have already started implementing these plans and will wait for the results,” Tarawneh told The Jordan Times.

However, he noted that the university’s budget for the current year is JD250 million, and the government’s contribution to the budget is only JD1 million.

UJ plans to raise the fees of the three programmes by between 35 per cent and 40 per cent.

However, the minister said: “We will ask for increasing the government’s financial support to public universities to avoid implementing this decision.”

Mahmoud noted that the government contributes JD57 million annually to all public universities, and the contribution varies from one university to another.

In addition, the government contributes JD10 million to support students who cannot afford to pay tuition fees, and JD6 million to improve the infrastructure at higher education institutes.

In a statement sent to The Jordan Times, Balqa Applied University President Nabeel Shawaqfeh said the university will not raise tuition in any of its programmes.