By Hana Namrouqa – Feb 29,2016 AMMAN — Jordan and Germany on Monday signed agreements at a value of 32 million euros to improve water and wastewater services for communities hosting Syrian refugees in the northern and central regions. Water Minister Hazem Nasser and German Ambassador to Jordan Birgitta Siefker-Eberle signed the two agreements, which […]

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As part of its cover story about Waste trade, in the March-April 2016 issue, Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia magazine conducted this interview with Rolph Payet, executive secretary of the Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal. What types of transboundary moved wastes are controlled by Basel Convention? The Basel Convention […]

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By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN 03/02/2016 Currently, only 2.6 percent of Israel’s electricity is produced from renewable sources. A renewable energy law could be in the works after the Knesset’s Finance Committee met on Wednesday to discuss the basics before bringing it for an initial reading in the plenum. One of the points that bothered some […]

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by Naharnet Newsdesk 02 March 2016, 21:17 Financial Prosecutor Ali Ibrahim has filed a lawsuit against the Sukleen and Sukomi firms on charges of “squandering public funds” in their handling of waste management in the country in the past two decades, media reports said on Wednesday. Ibrahim’s move is based on the lawsuit that has […]

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By Hana Namrouqa – Mar 01,2016 A total of 37 types of migratory soaring birds, which maintain flight by using rising air currents, travel on the Rift Valley-Red Sea Flyway annually (Photo by Muath Freij) AMMAN — With the start of birds’ migration season, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) said Tuesday […]

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James Denselow While it was written that God warned Noah about the coming flood, in Iraq this week it was the US embassy who issued an alert warning that the Mosul Dam could burst. Such is the potential for “catastrophic failure” that the embassy advised that US citizens should leave the Tigris flood plain. As […]

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Big Oil must thwart the movement to leave fossil fuels in the ground, the world’s most powerful oilman said on Tuesday. Addressing executives in Texas, Saudi oil minister Ali Al-Naimi said the industry had to shed its “Dark Side” image and show it was a “force for good”. “As an industry, we should be celebrating […]

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By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN 02/25/2016 Leviathan partners hope to have gas start flowing by the end of 2019 The partners developing the Leviathan natural gas field submitted their detailed development plan to the government on Thursday. Development of the Leviathan natural gas field is being led by Texas-based Noble Energy, Israel’s Delek Group (through its […]

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By Humeyra Pamuk and Seyhmus Cakan Reuters Saturday, 27 February 2016 Turkey has begun work to repair a pipeline taking crude oil from northern Iraq to the Mediterranean through its restive southeast and aims to restore flows soon, the Turkish energy ministry said on Saturday. The pipeline, which has been repeatedly sabotaged in recent months, […]

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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Japan signed two grants on Sunday to fund projects in the Gaza Strip worth almost $220,000 combined, the Representative Office of Japan to the Palestinian Authority said in a statement. One of the grants signed by Takeshi Okubo, the Japanese representative to the PA, allocates $128,426 to the Palestinian Environmental Friends (PEF) […]

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By Mohammad Ghazal – Feb 28,2016 AMMAN — One of Taiwan’s leading LED light firms will soon start working on a project to build a factory to manufacture LED street lighting units in Jordan, Ali Yang, the representative of the Commercial Office of the Republic of China (Taiwan), said on Sunday. The Taiwanese firm will […]

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By Suzanna Goussous – Feb 25,2016 AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) is planning to construct seven new parks this year expected to be ready by June, with around 20 to 30 courts suitable for practising sports, an official said on Thursday. Mohammad Qteish, director of GAM’s public parks department, said there are around […]

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By Muath Freij – Feb 25,2016 AMMAN — Although the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) has announced several projects to be implemented this year with the aim of resolving traffic issues, Ammanis interviewed by The Jordan Times on Thursday hold little hope that these projects will actually curb traffic jams in their city. In a statement […]

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By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN 02/28/2016 European environmentalists travel the Israel Trail. Hiking along the Israel Trail this past week, the pastoral scene was interspersed with the sounds of Italian, German, English and more. Since Monday, representatives of five European environmental groups have been traveling the Israel Trail and touring the country as guests of the […]

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The student department of the Kataeb Party on Sunday marched from Saifi to the government’s headquarters and the Council for Reconstruction and Development to condemn the authorities’ failure to resolve the waste management crisis that has been running since last summer. Carrying Lebanese and Kataeb flags, the students marched from the party’s headquarters in Saifi […]

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Member of the parliamentary committee tasked with resolving the trash management crisis Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan said on Sunday that Hizbullah has no problem with creating a landfill in the coastal area of Costa Brava, al-Mustaqbal daily reported on Sunday. “When suggestions emerged that the Costa Brava landfill should be created, committee member Hassan assured […]

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Social media users vented their anger at the Lebanese authorities on Thursday after CNN mocked what it called Beirut’s river of trash in a Mount Lebanon town. “Congratulations on the new fame! (Lebanon) is the best country in the world,” a woman said on her Facebook account after sharing the video of the CNN report. […]

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AFP, Ankara Wednesday, 24 February 2016 The Turkish government on Wednesday ordered a halt to construction work on a gold mine in a town near the Black Sea pending completion of the legal process, after protests warning it would ruin a pristine environment. The decision came as Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu hosted a delegation from […]

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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamallah and European Union representative Ralph Tarraf on Sunday laid the pave-stone of the first wastewater treatment plant in the northern occupied West Bank district of Tubas. An EU statement said the “large-scale project” would serve around 34,000 people living in Tubas city as well as the outlying […]

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By JT – Feb 21,2016 AMMAN — The Council of Ministers on Sunday approved a plan to rehabilitate Wadi Zarqa, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The project, with an investment value amounting to JD75 million, will contribute to developing the Zarqa River area, which begins in Ain Ghazal in Amman, passes through Ruseifa, Zarqa, […]

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