(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency)
Amman, Oct. 8 (Petra) -- Prime Minister, Hani Mulki, said Sunday the government is committed to supporting the agricultural sector and intent on finding solutions to challenges this key sector's of the national economy faces.
Speaking to head and members of the Jordan Farmers Union, heads of the union at the governorates and agricultural sectors representatives, the prime minister said the government is determined to find solutions to problems facing the agricultural sector and promote it due to its economic and social importance.
The premier referred to measures taken by the government to regulate the labor market, especially in the agricultural sector, in order to address imbalances resulting from the departure of the vast majority of foreign agricultural workers to work in other sectors.
"The government has no problem in bringing in agricultural labor if there are guarantees that it will not go to other sectors," he said. "I do not mind if the farmer brings in an agricultural worker instead of any worker who leaves the Kingdom," he noted.
Al Mulki instructed the Minister of Labor to hold a meeting in the next two days with representatives of the agricultural sector to find mechanisms to cover farmers' needs, regarding agricultural labor force, and ensure that it doesn't leave to work in other sectors.
On the Agricultural Credit Corporation's (ACC) debt on farmers, the premier said that the government will examine this issue to come up with a solution.
The prime minister said the government is willing to cover female workers at the agricultural sector in health insurance and social security for two years until they are secured by employers and companies they work for.
Jordanian Farmers Union President, Odeh Rawashdeh, briefed the meeting on challenges facing the agricultural sector and measures to stop recruiting labor and its impact on the production process, in addition to marketing challenges facing agricultural products and farmers' indebtedness.
Representatives of the sector called for applying the labor-recruiting ban gradually, rehabilitating Jordanians to work in the agricultural sector and replacing them instead of foreign workers within long-term plans and programs.
They also called for assisting farmers with regard to the ACC loans by exempting them from interests or extending repayment periods.
AF
8/10/2017 - 08:38:18 PM
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