AMMAN — Minister of Health
Feras Al-Hawari said that medical tourism is linked with
several official bodies, and that a joint committee has been established to see
how to better organize this field, and develop plans and programs to receive
tourists from abroad without obstacles.
اضافة اعلان
The plans, Hawari said, should enable medical
tourists and their companions to visit the tourist and archaeological sites in
the Kingdom.
The minister said that meetings are also held to
arrange for receiving patients from
Libya again, and that the Tunisian Ministry
of Health wishes to activate the health protocol with Jordan, with the aim of
enabling Tunisian patients to come to Jordan for treatment.
Hawari’s statements were made on Monday during a
joint meeting with heads of the health, environment, tourism, and public
services committees in the House of Representatives.
Hotel owner Kamal Al-Khreisat told
Jordan News that “we are keen to attract tourists from all countries, but the Libyan side’s
failure to meet its financial commitments led to a major crisis in the sector”.
He was referring to the
Libyan government’s failure
to fulfill its obligation and pay for the expenses of its nationals who visited
Jordan for medical purposes, debts that have been accumulating for many years,
leading some hotel owners to leave Jordan and some to close their facilities.
Operating a hotel comes at a high financial cost
that needs a steady financial flow, Khreisat said, and Libyan payments have
been delayed for anything from five to 11 years, which made many miss “many
investment opportunities in these years”.
Dozens of hotel owners protested Monday in front of
the Libyan embassy, asking that the financial dues owed all branches of the
tourism sector be settled.
According to hotel owner Taher Al-Rawajfeh, some
JD100 to JD120 million is due to the hotels that housed Libyan patients, and
the Libyan government has made promises more than 35 times.
Rawajfeh stressed that the hospitality industry is
ready to receive medical tourists “provided that obligations are paid first”.
MP
Tayseer Krishan told
Jordan News that it
is not only Libyans who come to Jordan for medical tourism, but citizens from
all Arab countries, and that “there is a comprehensive plan for medical tourism
in Jordan”.
Krishan said that Hawari and the Libyan ambassador
are holding discussions regarding Libya’s obligations to the Kingdom, adding
that if Libyans come back for medical tourism, they must do so through the
Salamtak platform (
www.salamtak.gov.jo), which was created on July 5, 2020, so
that payment is guaranteed.
At the same time, Krishan said that the Ministry of
Interior may grant five-year visas to medical tourists.
President of the
Jordan Hotel Association, Abdul
Hakeem Al-Hindi, stressed that “there must be real will to honor previous
commitments, “and then we will receive Libyan tourists”.
Jordan News tried to contact the Ministry of Health,
but there was no response.
Read more Features
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
