Today, Monday, the House of Representatives discussed during the oversight session, which was chaired by Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Al-Safadi, and in the presence of Prime Minister Dr. Bishr Al-Khasawneh and the cabinet, the responses received from the government to parliamentary questions.

The Council discussed the answers to 9 parliamentary questions, including the answer to the question of Representative Zainab Al-Badoul, which was received from the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities and related to the Petra District, represented by the inclusion of the Petra region within the tourist track, indicating that the answer was incomplete, and the Ministry and the Tourism Promotion Authority demanded to provide it with details supported by numbers.

In turn, the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Makram Al-Qaisi, said that among the activities of the Tourism Promotion Authority is marketing and promoting the Jordanian tourism product, and it is not within its competence to launch projects, indicating that Petra is no longer an internal destination, but rather an external one, and there is a large number of tourists to it.

For his part, Director General of the Tourism Promotion Authority, Dr. Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat, said that the sums allocated to Petra during the Corona pandemic period included granting tourist guides soft loans due to the repercussions of the pandemic on them, in addition to the Pink City benefiting from the “We Wanted Paradise” program, indicating that the amount of support reached to about a million dinars.

The Council also discussed the response of the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities to the parliamentary question directed by Representative Ayman Madanat, who indicated that the response to the question came on the ground after many ministers visited Karak Governorate, and he was satisfied with the answer he received from the government.

In turn, Representative Dr. Bilal Al-Momani was not satisfied with the answer received from the government to the question he directed to the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research related to stagnant specialties, announcing that it had been turned into an interrogation.

The Minister of Education and Minister of Scientific Research, Dr. Omi Muhafza, said that the Council of Higher Education did not agree to develop any of the stagnant majors, indicating that 131 stagnant majors were not included in the last session, and it was not approved to raise the capacity in the stagnant and saturated majors. All public and private universities, where modern and required disciplines are encouraged in the labor market.

MP Dr. Ahmed Al-Qatawneh indicated that the response received from the Minister of Water and Irrigation to his parliamentary question was not convincing, indicating that Karak suffered during last summer from water scarcity due to the failure to modernize the water network.

He added, there are neighborhoods in the governorate that suffer from lack of water access in the winter, pointing out that the shortage in supply is about 500 cubic meters per hour per day, in addition to that the artesian wells are not sufficient for the people of Karak from the quota allocated to them, calling for the people of the southern governorates to benefit. from the Disi water line.

MP Al-Qatawneh pledged to turn the question into an interrogation in case the ministry did not undertake to dig 4 wells to extract water in Karak Governorate.

In turn, the Minister of Water and Irrigation, Eng. Muhammad al-Najjar, said that the parliamentary question asked by Representative Al-Qatawneh in the summer of last year, when the rainy season in the south was low and weak, and precipitation rates did not exceed 40 percent of the season, indicating that there are plans to modernize the water networks in Karak Governorate, and it was completed Directly with it, and there are plans to supply the governorate from other water sources from outside, noting that it is difficult to supply from the Disi water line because of the high financial cost for that.

Al-Najjar added that the Jordanian water rights within the agreements signed with Israel reach the Kingdom as stipulated in the agreements, and there is no shortage in them, indicating that the national carrier project will contribute to the provision of sufficient water quantities to deliver water to the southern governorates around the clock and in a smooth manner without interruption throughout Days of the week after the project ends.

In turn, Representative Saleh Al-Armouti announced the conversion of his parliamentary question into an interrogation until a complete answer is received from the Ministry of Education, related to the numbers of educational counselors appointed in public and private schools, schools affiliated with military culture, UNRWA, the Ministry of Social Development, and the Ministry of Awqaf, Islamic Affairs and Holy Sites, indicating that the number of counselors is according to the answer. It is estimated that 53 percent of government schools received from the Ministry, while there are schools where there are no counselors.

Representative Mayada Shreim declared that the answer received from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply and the Ministry of Agriculture was satisfied with the parliamentary question she directed.

Representative Muhammad Al-Shatnawi was satisfied with the answer to his parliamentary question directed to the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and related to the official Jordanian universities and the financial deficit they face, indicating that the public universities suffer from difficult financial conditions, which reflected negatively on scientific research.

For his part, the minister reviewed the financial reality of public universities and the economic conditions they face, represented by the decrease in government financial support for them and the high financial deficit.

For his part, Representative Ghazi Al-Sarhan was satisfied with the answer he received from the Minister of Public Works and Housing, which was related to service issues.

Representative Dr. Safaa Al-Momani indicated that the answer she received from the Ministry of Water and Irrigation about the drying up of dams and plans and the incompleteness of the strategies that have been developed to avoid the effects of drying of dams, noting that water reaches some areas in Ajloun Governorate every 28 days, although the governorate records a season high precipitation annually.

And she said, according to the ministry’s response, there are 4,404 private artesian wells in addition to government wells, and this is a large number that affects groundwater, demanding that the aggressors and violators of the owners of those wells be held accountable, and announced that the question would be turned into an interrogation.

For his part, Minister Al-Najjar said that the drying of the dams is due to the decrease in the amounts of rain last year, pointing out that any private dam, if it was small, is threatened with drought in light of the low rates of precipitation.

Al-Najjar added that the government has drawn up a plan in light of the drought of the dams, represented by digging artesian wells with the aim of covering drinking water, and rationing the use of water if it is for the purposes of irrigating agriculture.

Council Speaker Ahmed Al-Safadi decided to adjourn the session to next Wednesday morning.

-(Petra)