Committee formed to authorise hiring of workers in Jordan's agriculture sector

AMMAN — Minister of Labour and Minister of State for Investment Affairs Maen Qatamin on Monday decided to form a committee comprising the ministry’s cadres to look into the applications of farm employers for renewing their official agriculture certificates.

The decision was taken to facilitate the work of the sector and provide the necessary labour force its needs, ensuring the continuation of the agricultural production process and mitigating the repercussions of the coronavirus crisis, Qatamin said.

The focus is on agricultural certificates that expired by the end of September and were not renewed due to the departure of non-Jordanian workers before March 18 as the workers were not able to return to the Kingdom due to the pandemic.

Qatamin said that the decision aims to enable employers in the sector renew their employees’ work permits through the following steps: Submit an application to the newly formed committee, bring a ratified copy of the Agriculture Ministry certificate that has expired, and an official letter from the Agriculture Ministry that confirms no new certificates will be issued until the end of this year.

The official certificates include details of farm employers’ lands, possessions and number of workers, which were issued regularly prior to the coronavirus crisis, Jordan Valley Farmers Union President Adnan Khaddam told The Jordan Times on Monday.

“The agriculture certificates are like a certificate of possession for farm owners, detailing the number of green houses, land, fish farms, plants and so on, which stopped during the crisis, and is only now being continued,” Khaddam noted.

“Without the certificate, farm owners cannot hire new employees, so it needs to be valid,” Khaddam said.

As for the current season, Khaddam said there is an “extreme lack” of agriculture workers, noting that there needs to be government decisions to address this issue to ensure the season goes well.

Agricultural Engineers Association member Suhaib Abu Serdaneh, sent a message to The Jordan Times, in which he said that the official certificates are issued by agricultural directorates to prove that the applicant works and it contains the details of their production and quantity.

The certificate is acknowledged by the Ministry of Labour, which determines the number of needed employees based on each individual certificate and its details.

The Agriculture Ministry suspended the process to renew the certificates during the coronavirus crisis to stop recruiting foreign workers, but the new decision will enable certificate holders to bring back their non-Jordanian workers who left the Kingdom before the crisis, Abu Serdaneh, noted.

The certificate also enables them to renew the permits of foreign workers who did not leave the Kingdom.