Local

MAFRAQ — A 36-year-old man and his two-year-old child died, while his wife was injured, when their car hit an electricity pole in Mafraq on Thursday.

Civil Defence Department (CDD) staff took the injured woman to Mafraq Public Hospital, where she was admitted to the intensive care unit with multiple fractures and bruises.

Also on Thursday, two workers at the Rehab Thermal Power Plant suffered smoke inhalation in a fire that broke out at the station.

CDD firefighters managed to contain the fire and took the workers to Mafraq Public Hospital, where they were listed in fair condition.

AMMAN — The Lower House’s foreign affairs committee met with Egyptian Ambassador to Jordan Khaled Tharwat on Thursday.

During the meeting, chaired by Deputy Hazem Qashou, discussions covered a number of regional and local issues of concern to both countries, particularly in the energy and labour sectors, in addition to Jordanian students at Egyptian universities.

Qashou commended Egypt’s role in the region, voicing hope that stability is reached in the country soon, allowing it to resume its role as a leading Arab and Muslim country.

For his part, the ambassador commended Jordan’s support for Egypt at all levels, stressing his country’s readiness to assist the Kingdom in issues such as energy and natural gas, and follow up on the situation of Jordanian students in Egypt, in addition to organising the situation of Egyptian workers in Jordan.

AMMAN — Health Minister Ali Hiasat said the ministry is tightening measures to implement the Public Health Law, which bans smoking in public places.

In a circular issued on Thursday to the directors of public hospitals and health departments, Hiasat stressed the need to take the necessary measures to ensure that smoking is banned in all buildings affiliated with the ministry.

The circular said officials in charge of public buildings should place “No smoking” signs visible to all.

AMMAN — Jordan on Thursday condemned the “terrorist” attacks that targeted the Iraqi foreign ministry and other areas in Baghdad on Wednesday.

Government Spokesperson Mohammad Momani reaffirmed Jordan’s rejection of all acts of violence and terrorism that target innocent civilians and spread chaos, regardless of the motives behind them.

Momani said the best way to fight terrorism is for the Iraqi people to unite and work together to restore stability and security, adding that the government supports Baghdad’s efforts to combat violence.

He offered condolences to Iraq’s government and people and to the families of the victims.

AMMAN — Police and Department of Antiquities (DoA) officials on Thursday announced the arrest of a man in Amman who reportedly attempted to sell a statue and other ancient artefacts believed to belong to the Roman and Byzantine periods.

The suspect was allegedly in possession of an ancient statue and other ancient relics that he planned to sell to others, according to a statement issued by the Public Security Department (PSD).

“The police received a tip that the suspect was looking for a buyer and arrested him while he was in his car where they found the statue,” the statement said.

Upon searching his house, they found more ancient artefacts, the PSD said, adding that they are investigating the source of the artefacts.

DoA Director General Monther Jamhawi said an expert was dispatched to examine the items.

“We sent an expert to examine the statue and the other pieces to determine if they are authentic,” Jamhawi told The Jordan Times.

The DoA official added that the department is waiting for the conclusion of the investigation to obtain the items and register them.

AMMAN — The Higher Education Council (HEC) on Thursday authorised the Kingdom’s universities to handle the admission of Jordanians who were enrolled in Syrian universities and could not finish their studies due to the current turmoil in the country.

Mustafa Odwan, secretary general of the Higher Education Ministry, said 600 of the students who returned from Syria have submitted applications to the ministry to continue their studies at public universities.

“Most of these students could not bring their documents from Syria; thus, we authorised universities here to evaluate their status and deal with them at their own discretion,” Odwan told The Jordan Times over the phone.

He explained that the students will study the same subjects they were studying in Syria and if they manage to “pass”, they can continue in the same specialty.

The higher education official also noted that the condition related to the minimum General Secondary Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) score that qualifies students to be accepted in a certain subject was waived for the returnees.

More than 900 Jordanians were studying in Syrian universities; some 600 decided to continue their education here, while the rest returned to Syria, Odwan said.

Also on Thursday, the HEC decided to accept 13,902 of the students who pass the Tawjihi winter session in the Kingdom’s public universities.

The council also decided to exempt students with severe disabilities from sitting for an English language proficiency exam as a precondition to be accepted in postgraduate studies, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The council also approved adding a second summer semester to the academic year, and students can choose which semester to join.

AMMAN — A 28-year-old truck driver was charged on Thursday with the premeditated murder of a man whose body was found in a dumpster in Naour a day earlier.

The suspect reportedly confessed to stabbing the 33-year-old victim with a switchblade on Wednesday evening following an argument at the dumpster, which belonged to the victim, a senior official source said.

The suspect told investigators that he had an argument with the victim over dumping waste on his land, the source told The Jordan Times.

As the argument became heated, the suspect reportedly “grabbed a switchblade from his truck and stabbed the victim in the abdomen and fled”, according to the source.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival because of the stab wound that penetrated his heart, a second source told The Jordan Times.

The police apprehended the suspect on Thursday, the source said, without elaborating on how they located him.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Omar Hiari charged the suspect with premeditated murder and issued orders for him to be detained at a correctional and rehabilitation centre pending further investigation into the case.

AMMAN — Inadequate public transportation is one of the major challenges impeding the employment of young job seekers, particularly females, according to a study released on Thursday.

Thirty-nine per cent of young Jordanians use more than three means of transportation to get to their workplace, while 46 per cent use more than two forms of transport to get home from work, according to the study prepared by the USAID-funded Youth for the Future Programme, which is implemented by the International Youth Foundation (IYF).

“Transportation problems affect the decision of the majority of young Jordanians on whether or not to accept a job, especially females, due to social considerations,” the study indicated.

The pilot study, which was released during a workshop on transportation obstacles and employment opportunities for the younger generation, identified irregular and limited frequency of public transport services, lack of reliability, limited geographic coverage and high cost as the most critical problems preventing young people from using public transportation to access training and employment opportunities.

“The average daily cost of transportation incurred by young Jordanians is JD1.9. When this is compared with the average monthly wages and working hours, we find that 23 per cent of the salary is spent on transportation,” the study indicated.

In addition, every young employee taking public transport spends 115 minutes commuting between their residence and the workplace, according to the study, which described the travelling period as “high,” especially when working hours are added, thus reaching an average of 12 hours per day.

Meanwhile, the study indicated that only 6 per cent of the surveyed employees, trainees and job seekers take a taxi to work, while 5 per cent use service cabs and 86 per cent take the bus.

The study, which covered Jordanians aged between 15 and 24 years in Amman, Zarqa, Ruseifa, Irbid, Sahab, Mafraq, Shuneh and the Jordan Valley, did not specify the size of the survey sample, which included employers.

Twenty-nine per cent of the interviewed employers said they secure their employees’ transportation, with 37 per cent of them charging for the service, according to the study, which also indicated that 48 per cent of business owners show understanding when their staff members arrive late to work due to public transport.

In addition, 69 per cent of employers said the late arrival of employees who use public transport has a negative effect on productivity.

IYF Jordan Country Director Rana Al Turk said the results of the study will create opportunities for job seekers by solving public transport problems, which act as a barrier to their employment.

“In particular, it will lead to increased employment opportunities for females who are significantly impacted by transportation challenges, especially the lack of quality and safe public transport services…” Turk said at the opening of the workshop.

The study noted that 30 per cent of parents interviewed in target areas do not allow their sons and daughters to use public transport, due to the deterioration in service and the fact that passengers, especially females, are subject to harassment.

During the event, Labour Ministry Secretary General Hamadah Abu Nijmeh underscored the need to expand the public transport network, improve the quality, ensure the regularity of services and address incidents of harassment on buses.

“Transportation problems have a role when young Jordanians turn down job offers… this negatively impacts economic growth rates and the ministry’s numerous efforts to raise productivity and reduce unemployment rates,” Abu Nijmeh said.

AMMAN — A small Jordanian read-aloud group for children has snowballed over the years, spreading all over the country and trickling out of its boundaries, creating umpteen mobile libraries and an army of storytellers.

Starting from an Amman neighbourhood eight years ago, the grass-roots movement “We Love Reading” (WLR) has trained almost a thousand volunteers so far on the art of reading aloud to children, and established libraries in cities where more than 10,000 children have been rapturously listening to stories.

Celebrating the end of a training course for a new group of storytellers on Thursday, Rana Dajani, the founder and director of WLR, referred to them as “social entrepreneurs”.

“The first goal we had was to train them how to read aloud and how to create social libraries in their neighbourhood, and the second was to provide them with adequate skills to become social entrepreneurs, thus creating their own projects and tackling problems within their communities,” Dajani told The Jordan Times.

“This is a springboard for the future,” she added.

After relocating to Jordan from the US, Dajani could not find good libraries for her children in the capital, something they missed from America and craved in Jordan, so she decided to act.

First alone, then followed by a group of women, they started reading books at mosques, churches or social centres in their neighbourhoods to children in the four-10 age bracket.

At the end of the session, the children could borrow copies of the book to read at home.

Today, the initiative is a widespread reality implemented in 15 other countries around the world including Germany, the US and Uganda, according to Dajani.

The training, a US government-funded project via the Middle East Partnership Initiative, lasted eight months with theoretical seminars and on-site visits to the new libraries scattered around Jordan.

“We, at the American embassy, have a special feeling about this programme because it was born of a dream that Rana Dajani had after living in the United States,” American Ambassador to Jordan Stuart E. Jones told the trainees.

“Rana was inspired by the public library system that she observed while she studied in the US. She observed how public libraries became centres of the community and brought people together,” he said. 

“Our public libraries in the US are places where education is available to everyone who comes in. They are places where children are inspired to learn,” Jones added.

Two of the volunteers have opened a library, reading stories aloud in the Zaatari village where Syrian refugees are hosted by Jordanians.

They built a library for both Jordanian and Syrian children to support peaceful integration amid a humanitarian crisis, Dajani said.

Children whose parents read to them tend to perform better in school, have a better vocabulary, are more curious and creative, and learn how to express themselves clearly and confidently, she noted, citing several studies.

“Reading is important for children and adults alike. It is a source of information and knowledge; reading is like a place one goes to — to feel relaxed, run away from what causes you pain [to what] makes you feel good, providing a source of inspiration, but this process must start in childhood,” Dajani said. 

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has started reviewing a Criminal Court ruling against a 50-year-old man convicted of murdering his daughter for reasons related to family honour in Ruseifa last year.

The Criminal Court first handed the death penalty to the defendant two weeks ago for the premeditated murder of his married 22-year-old daughter in 2013, a senior judicial source said.

But the tribunal immediately reduced the sentence to 10 years because the victim’s family dropped charges against the defendant, the judicial source told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

Court papers said the victim ran away from her husband’s house and was found later by the police, after which the administrative governor sent her to prison for her own safety and protection.

On the day of the murder, the defendant signed a guarantee that he would not harm his daughter and took her to his house, the court added.

“The defendant shot and killed his daughter, and then fled, but was later arrested by police,” court said.

The court dismissed the defendant’s arguments that he “murdered his daughter in a moment of rage to cleanse his honour and should benefit from a reduction in penalty as stipulated in Article 98 of the Penal Code”.

It was evident to court that the defendant plotted the murder although he tried to claim that his daughter cursed and hit him while telling him and that she was free to do whatever she wanted, the judicial source said.

The defendant even tried to claim that the weapon he used in the murder “was in the kitchen by coincidence”, the source added.

“The tribunal found his one-sided story hard to believe and decided to hand him the maximum punishment,” the judicial source said.

The Criminal Court tribunal comprised justices Talal Aqrabawi, Ayman Ghzawi and Ashraf Abdullah.