AMMAN — Social
Security Corporation (SSC) official spokesman Shaman Al-Majali said that the
corporation will launch the Estidama++ program next week, opening the door for
submission of applications by establishments and self-employed workers wishing
to benefit from the program.
اضافة اعلان
The program aims
to expand insurance coverage and contribute to the transition to formal economy
“by reaching new segments of employment in different economic sectors”, he told
Jordan News.
According to the
SSC, the program is funded by the Kingdoms of the Netherlands and Norway, in
coordination with and supervised by the International Labor Organization, as well
as in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.
“The
establishments benefiting from the program are those operating in the
agricultural sector, in addition to small, micro, and medium enterprises that
employ 10 workers or less, regardless of their nationality, as well as
self-employed individuals, whether Jordanians or non-Jordanians, in the tourism
and transportation sectors,” said Majali.
When Estidama and
Estidama+ were launched, representatives of different sectors urged the
government to reclassify the affected sectors, so that more sectors could
benefit from the programs.
Majali said that
the corporation’s selection of the most affected sectors was based on
government reports, and that SSC “tried its best to cover all affected
sectors”.
Farmer Ali
Braizat told
Jordan News that “the agricultural sector should have been
involved in this program a long time ago, especially in view of its
deteriorating financial situation”, stressing that all workers in the
agricultural sector should be enabled to participate in this program.
“The support
programs helped different sectors retain their workers despite the pandemic.
They contribute to the revival of the economy,” he added.
Daoud Samaan, a
tour guide in Petra and Wadi Rum, told
Jordan News that having tour
guides included in the latest support program “bodes well, since those guides
still go through a bad economic situation”.
“I believe we
need too much time to stand on our feet again. Things are getting better
nowadays, I believe, but they will never be as good as they were before the
COVID-19 pandemic,” he said, adding that “too many tour guides went bankrupt,
and if no real, serious decisions are taken to help revive the sector, the
number will increase”.
Mousa Al-Subaihi,
an insurance and social protection expert, told
Jordan News, that “SSC
should end all its protection programs, due to the large expenditures that must
be borne by the corporation”.
He emphasized that “the
value of the Social Security Investment Fund’s financial assets will drop more
in the next period if SSC continues with its programs”.
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