Casino is just the icecap Foreign investments under fire.

By Ibtisam Awadat Special to The Star Debate in the country has targeted this week the government with ongoing information and rumors about so-called foreign investments which will eventually occupy enormous areas in the Kingdom and change the current face of the country. Suspicions and indirect accusations of financial corruption and malpractice were leveled against many this week, while a direct letter submitted by 75 Jordanians representing all political spectrums to His Majesty King Abdullah II called for a royal act to protect the Jordanian people from corrupt and inept politicians and greedy businessmen.The first project to trigger the people was an agreement signed by the previous government to establish a casino in the Dead Sea area. News reports said that Prime Minister Nader Dahabi canceled last month a contract to establish the casino signed with a foreign tourist investment company. The company, registered in London, is owned by a British businessman of Kurdish origin. Dahabi, with a number of ministers in his cabinet, supervised the amendment of the agreement which would have had several political, economic and social ramifications on the Kingdom. Leaked information stated that the former minister of tourism, Osama Dabbas, made an amendment to the Tourism National Council bylaws, to allow him, in his capacity as head of the Council, to be "entrusted with granting permissions to establish casinos in the Kingdom, without seeking the approval of the Council, which hasn't convened for three years". The minister was claimed to have submitted a so-called authorization by the members, without their knowledge, to the Cabinet. The former government approved such an authorization to go on with procedures to establish the casino without any objection.Reports added that during Dahabi's government first days after formation, the investor in question had started meeting with the concerned people to start carrying out the project. At this point, the current government started intensive efforts to find a mechanism to cancel the agreement. However, British legal experts--at a cost of $100,000 of government's money--found out that there were some legal penalties against the government in case of cancellation, which at some point would reach well over JD1 billion in fines.Instead, those legal experts recommended that an amicable solution be sought, especially that some loopholes were discovered in the contract. Finally, the investor agreed to amend the agreement so that the article about establishing the casino be canceled while keeping the other parts of the tourist project. Due to public demand for revealing the truth behind this agreement, the Legal Committee at the Lower House of Parliament met with Dahabi to reach to the bottom of this case."Prime Minister Dahabi said that he didn't notice any corruption incorporated in this case; however, a number of parliamentarians asked for forming an investigation committee to ascertain that there are no financial commissions or corruptive measures involved," Head of the Committee Abdel Kareem Al-Dughmi told reporters at a press conference following the meeting.Dughmi explained the issue of the casino by saying, "The National Council of Tourism took a decision considering casino activity as permitted tourist activity. The former tourism minister recommended to the Council of Ministers to approve licensing the casino to Al-Waha (Oasis) company on state lands in the Dead Sea".Dughmi said that "Premier Dahabi described the agreement as very oppressive against the government and there was no way out".The British legal experts warned the government that by taking the case to court, the government stands to pay out $1.4 billion, if it lost the lawsuit, with approximately 50 percent likelihood. While the amicable settlement reached stipulates the annulment of the casino, however, this same investment company would have the priority in the future if such activity was to be permitted.In addition, MP Khalil Atiyah told AFP that the government has granted the investor 50 dunums in addition to the 100-dunums of the project to invest in a tourist spa in the Dead Sea instead of the casino."I believe that there should be more government transparency in discussing such national issues without depending on leaked information from this source or that," lawyer and former MP Zuheir Abul Ragheb told The Star.He called on the Prime Minister through the cabinet's spokesperson to reveal the details of the latest privatization projects."People feel disgusted over the ongoing talk about projects worth billions of dollars while they can't deal with the unprecedented rise in the cost of living," Abul Ragheb added.He denied receiving or knowing any information about the casino project in his previous mandate in Parliament.Meanwhile, new information is piling pressure on the government as privatization news of public properties for billions of dollars has revoked a number of deputies who asked for a clarification from the government.Jordan declared that the Aqaba port was sold to a UAE investment company for $5 billion; the company paid $500 million for a 3,200-dunum piece of land, which is occupied now by the existing port, to be transformed into a tourist place. Greater Amman Municipality Mayor Omar Al-Maani declared as well the sale of 350 dunums to former Lebanese prime minister Najeeb Miqati for $5 billion in order to build a complex, which the government would rent to house all it departments.More shocking news said that the Al-Hussein Medical City is in the process to be sold to UAE investors in addition to other surrounding areas. News added that the University of Jordan might be also sold in an investment deal."I believe that the privatization process should be publicly discussed because we are talking here about our national assets," Abul Ragheb noted. This situation has provoked national figures of all walks of life to question the effectiveness of the economic reform programs performed by the governments, and to address HM the King, imploring him to interfere on the side of the citizenry. Casino is just the icecap Foreign investments under fire

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