Local

AMMAN — As a member of UN Secretary General’s High-level Panel (HLP) formed to advise on the global development agenda beyond 2015, Her Majesty Queen Rania on Wednesday met with the “Mark a Difference” youth volunteers.

The campaign was launched by the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office to promote the “My World” survey in Jordan, according to a statement from Her Majesty’s office.

“My World” is a global survey that allows people across the world to relay to the United Nations, and in particular the secretary general’s HLP, the issues they deem as most important and would like the post- 2015 agenda to address.

Since May 2013, Jordan has collected more than 40,000 votes for the survey making it the first country in the region and the eighth worldwide to collect this number of votes, the statement said. The results of the survey will be announced this year.

During the meeting, Queen Rania asserted the important role young Jordanians played in promoting the survey across the Kingdom, thus contributing in identifying priorities and challenges that will help shape the post- 2015 agenda.

The “Mark A Difference” campaign, which was launched in May 2013 under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, includes a team of 200 volunteers from different governorates.

Recruited through a call on Facebook, the participants comprise university students and volunteers from various organisations, including Irbid Youth Volunteers, Family Kitchen and X Feer, according to the statement.

The campaign also works with 300 other volunteers recruited from organisations such as the King Abdullah Fund for Development, the Princess Basma Centre for Development, the Jordan River Foundation and the King Hussein Foundation.

In recognition of their efforts and commitment to reaching out to their communities, the “Mark A Difference” volunteers were awarded the My World Outreach prize for the Arab states region by the Millennium Campaign last September.

Since June 2013, the volunteers showed a great sense of ownership and willingness to bring concrete “change” to the country, the statement said.

After speaking with the volunteers, Queen Rania explained how the survey collects feedback from all strata in society.

Her Majesty added that it is crucial to publish the results of the survey so far so that decision makers and stakeholders can benefit from them.

To date, according to the survey, the top development priorities in Jordan are finding job opportunities and education.

The Queen noted that the volunteers’ participation in promoting the survey is a valuable experience, allowing them to get to know, firsthand, the priorities of their country and find ways that can help overcome the challenges of the development agenda.

Volunteers shared their experiences from working in the field with the Queen, noting that the people they encountered showed great interest in participating in the survey and were delighted to voice their opinions and share their thoughts on national development priorities.

During the meeting, also attended by Nora Isayan, communications officer at the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, and Post-2015 Coordinator Alberto Natta, attendees watched a short video featuring the work done by the volunteers. 

AMMAN –– Jordan’s oil imports from Iraq have been halted due to security conditions in Anbar province, an Iraqi official said Wednesday.

An official at the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company, a government-owned agency, told The Jordan Times over the phone that both Amman and Baghdad agreed to suspend trucked oil shipments until security in the province –– which borders the Kingdom in the eastern region –– is restored.

The official, who requested anonymity, declined to give further details on when the shipments stopped, noting that the oil ministry had issued a statement on the issue.

In a statement carried by Iraqi news agencies, Asim Jihad, spokesperson for the Iraqi oil ministry, said trucked shipments of crude oil from Iraq to Jordan have come to a complete halt because of “deteriorating security in Anbar where militants control several parts of the province”.

He estimated the volume of oil shipments at between 10,000 and 12,000 barrels of crude per day.

Jordan’s oil imports from Iraq represent around 10 per cent of the Kingdom’s daily needs which amount to around 100,000 barrels.

Jordan and Iraq have been discussing the implementation of a project to extend an oil pipeline from Basra in Iraq to Jordan’s port city of Aqaba.

The $18 billion pipeline, which is projected to transport 2.25 million barrels of oil per day through the Kingdom, would generate between $2 billion and $3 billion a year in revenues for Jordan, according to estimates of Iraqi and Jordanian officials.

The project entails providing the Kingdom with 150,000 barrels of oil on a daily basis at prices that the two countries agree on, with the remainder to be exported via the Port of Aqaba.

AMMAN — Monthly financial allocations for the prime minister’s office currently stand at JD80,000, according to an Audit Bureau report discussed by the Lower House’s Financial and Economic Committee on Wednesday.

The Finance Ministry has been transferring this amount to the prime minister’s office for a long time to cover its obligations to provide financial assistance to underprivileged students.

The finance committee decided to investigate the issue, as underprivileged students receive financial aid amounting to around JD1 million from other institutions, according to the report.

The bureau raised this issue in a report on the violations of the Finance Ministry covering the 2009-12 period.

The Audit Bureau said these violations are still being committed.

The report also showed that unpaid dues to the government stand at around JD2 billion.

The House committee decided to form a team to look into the issue and come up with recommendations on collecting these dues as soon as possible.

The panel also decided to review government policy with regard to its representation in quasi-governmental organisations or firms that it owns shares in.

The Audit Bureau report called for establishing one entity to supervise these investments and to rotate government representation in such companies, as in certain firms, government representatives remain in their positions for more than 18 years.

The bureau recommended that the government should present the reasons behind investing JD9.9 million since 2002 in the Jordan Investment Trust, adding that no revenue from this investment has been channelled into the Treasury.

The Audit Bureau submits these reports directly to the Lower House every three or four years, highlighting major violations in the concerned state or public sector institutions that fall under its jurisdiction.

The report has been one of the main tools to monitor the performance of state agencies as MPs use its findings to address questions to the government.

AMMAN — The government is committed to putting an end to all water violations, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said Wednesday, describing water theft as a form of corruption.

To this end, Ensour said, the government has drafted new amendments to the Water Authority of Jordan Law.

The Lower House on Wednesday referred the amended draft to its Agriculture and Water Committee, giving it “urgency status”, with MPs expressing their desire to play a part in protecting the country’s water resources.

The premier said the bill reflects the government’s determination to stop all types of violations on the water network across the country.

The government has sealed hundreds of illegal water wells, he added, noting that the authorities are working on measures to prevent further breaches on water pipelines.

Ensour voiced hope that the Lower House would speed up deliberations over this
particular bill.

Water Minister Hazem Nasser said the authorities sealed 174 out of 800 active illegal wells and 500 inactive ones in 2013.

The ministry is working on preventing further violations on the network, and has referred several cases to the concerned court, where violators face charges of committing economic crimes, Nasser told deputies at Wednesday’s session.

His remarks came in response to several questions raised by former Lower House speaker Abdul Karim Dughmi (Mafraq, 1st District), who stressed the need to safeguard the county’s water resources, especially as the Kingdom is among the poorest countries on Earth in water resources.

In response to a question by MP Mejhem Sqour (Cooperation list) on a previous Cabinet decision allowing those who own over 90 dunums of land in the Jordan Valley to dig their own artesian wells, Nasser said the move was a mistake and is no longer in effect.

According to ministry figures released late last month, 70 per cent of water loss in Jordan is due to theft and illegal usage.

Since the ministry launched a crackdown on water violations in August last year, and up until December, more than 7,091 illegal water pipes were dismantled, of which 75.5 per cent were in the capital, according to the figures.

The ministry registered 1,919 violations on main water conveyors and 3,360 cases of changing water gauges in Amman alone between August and December last year.

During the same period, the ministry’s teams registered 1,163 violations in Irbid, 95 in Ajloun Governorate, 35 in Jerash and over 150 in Mafraq and Northern Badia.

Last year, the Iftaa Department issued a fatwa (religious edict) prohibiting the theft of water or violations on water resources and networks.

Such violations or random drilling of wells threaten the future of drinking water, which is a shared right amongst people, the fatwa said.

Under Article 30 of the current version of the Water Authority of Jordan Law, violators are fined up to JD5,000 and jailed for two years, while Article 456 of the Penal Code stipulates that violators of water networks face three- to six-month prison terms and fines ranging between JD100 and JD1,000.