His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday stressed the importance of building the capacities of governors, executive councils, and governorate councils to enable them to set strategies that identify development and service priorities in the governorates.

During a meeting with governors, attended by Prime Minister Hani Mulki at Al Husseiniya Palace, King Abdullah told governors they have a national responsibility and a major role to develop governorates by preparing these strategies and following up on their implementation.

His Majesty said the upcoming phase requires establishing a partnership between executive councils and governorate councils, calling for teamwork to serve public interest.

Citizens should sense the impact of decentralisation, the King said, through better services and the fair distribution of development gains.

Jordan’s first experience in implementing decentralisation as part of its reform efforts will bolster public participation in decision making on development issues in every governorate, based on its priorities and requirements, and with the aim of expediting progress in all fields, His Majesty added.

The King called for directing investments to governorates and establishing development projects in cooperation with the private sector, in order to reduce poverty and unemployment.

His Majesty also affirmed governors’ important role in maintaining outreach to local communities to address citizens’ needs and concerns, while also ensuring the law is respected and enforced.

The partnership between governors and governorate councils will be key to the success of decentralisation, the King noted.

Speaking at the meeting, Prime Minister Mulki said governorate councils and executive councils complement each other, with the goal of providing the best services for citizens.

Mulki stressed the importance of training programmes for these councils to identify their roles and responsibilities.

The prime minister said the government has allocated JD220 million in capital expenditure at governorates in next year’s budget.

The governors said the success of decentralisation hinges on establishing a partnership with elected councils and local communities, leading to the establishment of investment and development projects in the governorates.

They stressed the importance of empowering directors working in the field to enable them to take quick decisions to remove obstacles to service and development projects.

Decentralisation, by engaging citizens in identifying their development priorities, will have a positive impact on local communities, the governors added.

Royal Hashemite Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh, Director of the Office of His Majesty Jafar Hassan, and Interior Minister Ghaleb Zu’bi attended the meeting.