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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - His Majesty King Abdullah II Tuesday emphasised the importance of building the institutional capacity of governors and executive and governorate councils to enhance their ability to lay down strategies that set developmental and service priorities in their regions.

"A national responsibility and enormous role lies ahead of you to uplift the governorates via building these strategies and following up on their implementation", the King told governors in a meeting at Al Husseiniyeh Palace, which was attended by Prime Minister Hani Mulki.

He said the next stage requires building a relationship of partnership and cooperation between executive and governorate councils and "working in the one-team spirit to fulfil the public interest".

The King stressed that citizens should feel the effects of decentralisation through improving the quality of services offered to them and ensuring a fair distribution of the dividends of development.

Jordan's first experience in applying decentralisation as a reform milestone, the King pointed out, would enhance popular participation in the decision-making process for the development of each governorate according to the priorities and requirements of each of the regions and to accelerate the pace of achievement in the various domains.

He underlined the importance of directing investments toward the governorates and launching development projects there in cooperation with the private sector, and in a manner to alleviate poverty and unemployment.

His Majesty emphasised the governor's role in keeping channels open with the local communities and to address on the spot the citizens' needs and the problems facing them while ensuring the rule of law is equally applied on all.

The participatory relationship between the governors and the governorate councils is the key to the success of the decentralisation experiment in future, the King stressed.

For his part, Mulki referred to the complimentary relationship between the governorate and executive councils, whose ultimate aim is to offer best services to the public, stressing the importance of the training programmes of the councils regarding their roles and responsibilities.

The prime minister said the government had allocated JD220 million in next year's budget as capital expenditures in the governorates.

The governors agreed that the success of the decentralisation scheme is based on building a participatory relationship between them and the elected councils and the local communities, and in a manner to launch investment and development projects in the governorates.

They also stressed the enhanced powers of directors working in the field to accelerate the decision-making process concerning impediments to service and development projects.