Kingdom of Jordan: The Prime Minister of Jordan, Dr Bashar Al-Khasaouna, held a Cabinet session and decided to approve the extension of the government’s financial support to public transport operators on passenger transport lines and taxi cars for the next three months (April, May and June) at a total cost of 5 million, 854 thousand and 770 a dinar through the budgets of ministries and governmental departments.
The updates from the session confirmed that the decision aims to support public transport to counter the reflections of rising fuel prices on the wages of the transportation sector, reduce costs for operators and avoid the reflection of fuel prices on citizens, which contributes to alleviating the financial burden on them as the holy month of Ramadan approaches.
“The Cabinet has agreed to renew work on its previous decision on exemptions granted to specialized tourist transport means and to grant specialist tourism transport companies a deadline of one year to correct their status for buses 2006 and above,” said reports.
In addition, the decision comes in the wake of record numbers of tourists the kingdom recorded in January and February this year compared to previous years despite being no longer one of the most popular tourist peaks, indicating the large expected size of tourist numbers in the coming seasons.
In order for specialized tourism transport companies to benefit from these exemptions, the Council of Ministers recommend the Road Transport Organization to lift the draft amended system of the Specialized Tourist Transport Licensing System No. 82 of 2012 and its amendments for 2019 to the Cabinet in advance of issuing it according to the legal assets followed with giving it the urgency, noted updates from the session.
Moreover, the decision comes to adjust the system in view of the importance of the tourist transport sector specializing in the tourist product system.
The system aims to block the huge demand for specialized tour transport buses as well as the importance of providing high-quality transportation services by buses.
The significance of providing comfort and safety to tourist groups and tourism offices did not benefit from the previous cabinet decision Regarding the exemptions for tourist transport in light of the decision with the Corona pandemic.
The reports confirmed that the revised system of the Specialized Tourist Transport Licensing System for 2019 has also reduced the operating age of buses to 12 years and that of tour buses to 10 years from the year of manufacture.
Such decisions mean about 300 buses will be out of service during the current year 2023, which constitutes the proportion—approximately 50%. of the total number of buses for specialized tourist transport companies.
Further, the Cabinet decided to approve the grounds for the draft of a revised passport system for 2023 AD; in advance of sending it to the Legislative Assembly and the Opinion to complete its issuance procedures in due course.
Additionally, the amendment aims to enhance opportunities for attracting investors to create projects for the purpose of obtaining Jordanian citizenship. The Council has decided to approve the appointment of Dr Nadal Ayub Abu Arabi as General Secretary of the Ministry of Local Administration for Administrative and Financial Affairs.
During the meeting, the Council also decided to approve the modification of the current Secretary-General of the Ministry, Engineer Hussein Mahidat, to become the Secretary-General for the Ministry of Technical Affairs.
It was noted that under the Administrative Regulation System of the Ministry of Local Administration for 2023, the post of General Secretary of the Ministry of Technical Affairs and the other General Secretary for Administrative and Financial Affairs has been established.
