His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday urged the government to find effective means to ease the suffering of citizens on limited incomes after the recent hikes in fuel prices.



The King told Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit in a letter that the government should come up with new taxation mechanisms to make sure the wealthy shoulder the largest burden of this national duty and that the burden on low-income citizens is eased.


King Abdullah, meanwhile, said authorities should take measures to stop tax evasion and upgrade tax collection capabilities "in a way that does not affect investments."


In the letter, the King said the expansion of the Social Safety Net requires the establishment of a "social solidarity commission," to oversee and coordinate the work of all agencies concerned with aiding the poor.


The mission of the commission, the King added, is also to prevent duality in aid distribution and regulate the sector to include more citizens under the umbrella of assistance services.


As for the initiative that His Majesty launched to provide the poor with housing units, the King said the government is urged to expedite the implementation of this initiative and broaden the base of beneficiaries to reach 2,000.


Also in the letter, the King said authorities should be working on finding sources of energy other than imported fuel derivatives.

The Jordan Times