Jordan to implement new funding disbursement system

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) The Ministry of Municipal Affairs will fund development projects in the Kingdom's municipalities based on a new system that will assess their utility in fighting poverty and unemployment, a senior ministry official said on Sunday.

"As of next year, the ministry will adopt and implement a new mechanism to provide grants and loans to municipalities," Minister of Municipal Affairs Shihadeh Abu Hdeib said yesterday in a statement to the media.

He added that the ministry will link grants, incentives and loans to municipality performance in planning and implementing development projects that tackle poverty and create jobs.

Abu Hdeib said the new system of dispersing grants and loans to municipalities, whether directly by the ministry or through the Cities and Villages Development Bank (CVDB) and donor countries, will work to combat poverty and improve the living standards of individuals.

"This new measure will contribute to strengthening the role of municipalities in local development. It will focus on the adoption of standards of good performance and assess the economic feasibility of the projects included in each municipality's strategic plans and their positive impact on the ground in the provision of real employment opportunities for citizens," the minister said.

He highlighted that this will create a competitive environment among the municipalities, contributing to the improvement of actual performance.

The minister explained that the new system will score municipalities according to their success at reducing poverty and unemployment, as well as their ability to develop effective development strategies and deliver basic services efficiently.

Transparency in decision making, proper financial management and equitable distribution of resources will also factor into the scoring system, Abu Hdeib said.

In a parallel measure, he said the ministry last month issued its financial report in cooperation with the Finance Ministry and the CVDB, which underlined all financial support to be distributed to all municipalities in the Kingdom over the next few years, adding that this report is the first of its kind in the Middle East.

By Hani Hazaimeh