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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh on Tuesday adjourned an oversight session, citing “lack of precision and details” in a number of ministers’ replies to the issues raised by MPs.

Lawmakers took turns to comment on education, agriculture and livestock, water security and healthcare in remote and rural areas, and the deal to import gas from Israel.

The concerned ministers attending the session responded to the demands and comments, but Tarawneh said he found that the officials “spoke about plans in the future that could be implemented within a few months. Not immediate solutions”.

Responding to deputies who accused his ministry of harming the livestock sector by allowing imports of sheep and cattle, Minister of Agriculture Khaled Hneifat said no importing licences had been issued since August, attributing the deterioration in the sector to regional turmoil, among other factors.

“Sadly, we have lost regional export markets, especially in the Gulf area,” he said, without elaborating.

Hneifat also highlighted the poor financial position of the Agricultural Risk Management Fund, assuring lawmakers that it would resume its operation as soon as such a situation is rectified.

In the meantime, the ministry is studying the possibility of establishing an agricultural insurance company owned mostly by the government.

For his part, Minister of Health Mahmoud Sheyyab acknowledged the shortage in specialised doctors, adding that the ministry is in contact with the Civil Service Bureau to appoint all specialised doctors who have applied to work for the government.

Meanwhile, the ministry will work “within its capacity to address the lack of medical equipment at healthcare centres in remote areas”, Sheyyab added.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Nasser Judeh was accused of “misleading the House” when he stated that a family visit to a Jordanian prisoner in Israeli had taken place.

Several legislators shouted that it had not.

Energy Minister Ibrahim Saif responded to criticism of the Jordanian-Israeli gas deal saying that his ministry would provide the Chamber with a detailed explanation of the agreement.

The government has said the agreement with Noble Energy, a Houston-based company that holds the largest share in the Israeli Leviathan gas field, will provide 40 per cent of the Kingdom’s needs of gas and save around $600 million annually.

The National Electric Power Company has also said that the deal would “save Jordan up to $600 million each year” and around 300 million cubic feet would be imported by Jordan daily.