Cabinet approves draft law for monitoring economic activities

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Sunday approved the draft law for monitoring economic activities for 2017, after amendments related to its effectiveness and implementation, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The law aims to prevent conflict and duality of authority among official institutions when inspecting economic activities. It has been a long-term demand of the trade, industry and service sectors, according to Petra.

The fields that will be included in the law are public health, food and drug safety, rights of workers, environment, vocational licensing, and market and product survey. 

The legislation stipulates forming a committee to develop the inspection of businesses and to be headed by the trade and industry minister, with members from the concerned institutions and the private sector.

Also on Sunday, the Cabinet decided to approve the amendments of the draft law for municipalities for 2017.

The draft law would exclude the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) from provisions applied to other municipalities, as is already the case with the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) and the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA), 

According to the law, GAM will keep its local councils, with 25 per cent of their members to be appointed and 75 per cent to be elected, until the municipality finishes drafting its special law after the upcoming municipal elections in August.

During the Council of Ministers’ meeting, Public Works and Housing Minister Sami Halaseh briefed the Cabinet on the progress of work on the Irbid-Amman road and the decision to form a committee to study the repeated landslides. 

The ministry is reconstructing the road near Jerash, 45km north of Amman, where a landslide took place and forced the ministry to reroute traffic through a temporary detour. 

The committee is to be headed by the ministry’s secretary general and its members will be drawn from the Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission and the Jordan Geologists Association.

Halaseh said that the committee will begin studying the highway and will present a report within two weeks.

In its Sunday session, the Council of Ministers also approved the amendment to the by-law of advertisement licences with municipalities’ boundaries for 2017.  

The by-law stipulates reducing the fee restrictions on the qualifications of ads.

According to the by-law, signs fixed to shops or other buildings will cost JD8, instead of JD20, if the size is less than 4 square metres (sqm), while signs between 4 to 6sqm will cost JD12, with those more than 6sqm costing JD20.

The decision also reduced fees for licensed billboards fixed on roofs, down to JD200 instead of JD400, with wall billboards to cost JD200 instead of JD250.

For digital billboards, the fees were reduced from JD1,000 to JD500, and investment ads to JD120 instead of JD200.