AMMAN — Head
of the Jordan Farmers Association Ibrahim Al-Sharif said that the association
will address His Majesty King Abdullah with a comprehensive message about the
farmers’ situation and its refusal to include foreign workers under the Social
Security Corporation (SSC) umbrella.
اضافة اعلان
Sharif told
Jordan
News that the address will point out all obstacles and negative impact the
decision has on farmers and on local employment, in the hope that His Majesty
will protect them.
He added that
the decision to include foreign workers under the SSC umbrella is unfair to the
agriculture sector and will place additional burdens on it, and that the
Jordanian product will lose its competitiveness in foreign markets since the
decision will contribute to a new rise in the costs of production.
“The SSC is a
national institution that should belong to the Jordanians, in order to protect
them and do justice to them. There should be an incentive for the Jordanian
worker to work in the agricultural sector,” he said.
He added that
farmers have been long having hard times.
“This is a
faltering sector that has faced difficult conditions. Farmers need support so
that they can stand on their feet again and produce.”
The head of the
Parliamentary Agriculture and Water Committee, Mohammad Alaqma, told
Jordan
News that the committee met with the minister of labor and the director
general of the SSC to discuss the decision, “but we did not reach satisfactory
solutions”.
He added that
the committee requested an appointment with Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh
to discuss this matter, “but unfortunately, we did not receive an answer or an
appointment. I regret to say that this is a shameful thing”.
Alaqma said that
farmers need support, in view of the difficult circumstances they have been
facing for too long.
“That is why we,
members of the committee, will meet and we will write a memorandum to the
government and also address His Majesty King Abdullah.”
A source at the
SSC, who spoke to
Jordan News on condition of anonymity, said that
including foreign workers in the corporation is part of its policy of providing
social protection to every worker in the Kingdom, and of helping ease the
financial obligations on the establishments that employ these workers,
especially when they exceed their financial capabilities.
The source
stressed that the corporation does not distinguish between Jordanian and
foreigner workers.
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