Attarat project takes centre stage at Lower House oversight session

AMMAN — The Lower House, in an oversight session on Wednesday, discussed 13 questions from MPs to the government.

Deputies criticised the Civil Service Bureau’s new appointment procedures, “the behaviour of some ministers” when dealing with deputies and medical exemptions, highlighting the importance of amending the Parliament’s Code of Conduct.

During the session attended by Cabinet members, MPs also drew attention to the necessity of extending loan moratorium period due to the pandemic crisis.

Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Bisher Al Khasawneh said that the government had moved towards initiating arbitration over the issue of Attarat project, noting that “a careful consideration revealed that there is lack of fairness when it comes to the State Treasury”, noting that the government's attempts to examine the prospects for negotiations on the issue “have not been promising”, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The premier promised to provide MP Saleh Al Armouti with the text of the agreement related to the Attarat Power Company.

Highlighting the lack of a full reply, Lower House Speaker Abdulmunim Oddat called on the government to provide a second answer on this issue, stressing the Lower House and the government’s common stance on providing comprehensive additional information about Armouti’s question about the two arbitration proceedings initiated by the government and National Electric Power Company (NEPCO), at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, against the Attarat Power Company.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati, in her reply, said that the two cases are still pending at the ICC, noting that ICC’s arbitration rules require disclosure of all documents requested by the opponent, including any correspondence or recordings made in the House of Representatives on the dispute referred to arbitration.

Responding to MP Mosa Hantash question related to the National Petroleum Company, Zawati said that the company covers its expenses from its revenues generated from the Risha gas field, noting that the company’s sales to NEPCO in 2020 totalled JD13.9 million, adding that the company, of 195 employees, is owned by the government and have two excavators, made in 1989, and there is a plan to buy a new excavator at an estimated cost of JD10 million.

MP Yanal Fraihat took a more probing approach, turning his question about the number of school students who fail to attend their online lessons into inquiry, according to Petra.

The MPs’ questions also focused on service needs in their constituencies.