Jordan Times
Friday, April 7, 2006
'A strong Jordan is crucial to serving the Palestinian issue'
BAQAA (Petra) — Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit on
Thursday said the government is spending more than UNRWA on services for
Palestinian refugees.
He told a meeting in the Baqaa refugee camp, 13km north of Amman, the country
hosts 40 per cent of all registered Palestinian refugees, while the UN relief
agency only spends 20 per cent of its budget on services to refugees in Jordan.
However, “this is Jordan's duty,” he said, “we are citing no favours here.”
He described the relationship between Jordanians and Palestinians as a “special
one. The two peoples are linked by destiny.”
Bakhit told Baqaa notables, who were joined by community leaders from the
adjacent Ain Al Basha district, that all Jordanians should work to preserve the
security and stability of the country.
“A strong Jordan is crucial to serving the Palestinian issue,” he told the
meeting.
The premier cautioned his audience against listening “to those who have special
agendas and covert goals.”
“You are Jordanians in both good times and bad times. When Jordan is prosperous,
prosperity will reflect on all. And when there are difficulties, things will be
difficult for all,” he added.
Bakhit reiterated that Jordan would never give up on supporting the
Palestinians' right of return.
The premier reviewed the government's vision for solving the problems of poverty
and unemployment. In order to address these problem, he said, focus should be
placed on attracting more investments, sustaining the current economic growth
rate and applying sound demographic policies.
During his visit, Bakhit checked on progress in a project to rehabilitate houses
being implemented by the Foreign Ministry's Department of Palestinian Affairs
and funded by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.
He also inspected a project to open a service road designed to ease traffic in
the camp, which is inhabited by around 90,000 people.
Reviewing other plans designed to improve citizens' quality of life, the premier
referred to a decision, which will go into effect soon, to include all citizens
aged above 65 in a free healthcare programme.
The government is also studying a plan to provide citizens over 60 years old
with health insurance coverage in return for an affordable fee, he added.