I feel, touch, and scrutinize the pains of my beloved homeland, Jordan, and write about them, diagnosing the disease and prescribing the remedy, according to my abilities, capacities, and experiences. Additionally, I search for areas of excellence in performance and praise them, gratefully and proudly for the achievements.
I write about my homeland not for personal reasons, nor for self-interest. No one intervenes in what my humble pen writes, nor do I accept direction or even hints, as everything I write comes directly from my head. I have my own sensitive barometer, committed to my values, morals, religion, steadfast principles, and sincere non-self-serving allegiance, which I emulate and follow.
For months, social media has been filled with posts, articles, and comments that vilify, discredit, condemn, malign, belittle, and criticize the efficiency and competence of those who have served as general managers of the social security administration. They described them in ways that Malik could not even describe wine in.
I state clearly and openly, knowing that I have no personal relationship or acquaintance whatsoever with any of the general managers of the social security institution. I assert that all general managers of the social security institution since its establishment in the early 1980s have been competent and distinguished in their administrative and scientific abilities, with most of them having an unblemished record. They have managed the institution with prudence, civility, and unparalleled excellence, compared to other national institutions.
As a result, the public institution of social security was successful, indeed leading, distinguished, and advanced in its performance. The proof of this is as follows:—
1) It fulfilled its obligations towards retirees and others dealing with it exactly on time.
2) Another proof is that the assets of the social security institution by the end of 2025 are estimated at about (18.6) billion dinars.
3) The institution had significant cash liquidity exceeding (10.6) billion dinars.
The problem of the social security institution is confined to borrowing by governments from the social security institution over the past (6) years, specifically since the start of the Corona pandemic. This represented
borrowing a huge amount, nearly depleting all available cash liquidity of the social security institution, with the total borrowed amount reaching (10.6) billion dinars. And what made matters worse was that no repayment schedule was set.
You who keep social media busy, is it logical and sensible to chew up the social security institution and slander its general managers when, through their efforts, the institution's successes have reached it having assets worth about (18.6) billion dinars, while also having cash liquidity exceeding (10.6) billion dinars?
The performance of the social security institution was disrupted from the moment its liquidity was exhausted, without reliance on a repayment schedule for that governmental debt. If not for that, the social security institution would have continued to thrive, develop, grow, and the savings of Jordanians would have been completely secure.
And they criticize the performance of the social security institution because a few dozen people receive high, or fantastical, salaries.
Ladies and gentlemen, those who receive high salaries from security, did not steal them, but obtained them based on the previous social security law. They were originally receiving high salaries in their jobs, and what's wrong with that? Isn't it natural for someone who held a prestigious position in one of the leading major banks, for example, whose monthly salary exceeded (25,000) or (30,000) dinars to receive a retirement salary reaching (10,000) dinars or more! It is natural for those who were receiving high salaries to get high retirement salaries. For your information, those who received a high retirement salary, amounting to thousands, were subject to the same retirement calculation as those with modest retirement salaries. Otherwise, is it envy? I congratulate them, and bless their hearts, as long as it's legal.
The matter was addressed years ago when a maximum cap was set for the salary (subject to) security, as well as a maximum cap for the retirement salary.
The problem of the social security institution was never in its administrations. Because they were competent and successful. Nor was the problem in a few dozen people receiving high retirement salaries at all.
Frankly and clearly, the problem of the social security institution is specifically confined to two reasons, and no third, which are:—
1) The first reason:—The borrowing by previous successive governments of an amount (10.6) billion dinars, a very large amount, which if it happened in any other institution would have completely collapsed.
2) And the second reason:—The pressure of the Jordanian governments on the administrations of the social security institution to contribute to projects that were known in advance to be failures before they were established, because they were done in an emergency manner, and most of them were set up without even preparing economic feasibility studies in the first place.
And let's ask the question another way: If the previous governments had not borrowed the amount of (10.6) billion dinars, would the social security institution be suffering what it is suffering now? I answer and say: Of course not.
The social security institution was a successful, pioneering institution, and followed a scientific approach in managing its affairs, and prepared actuarial studies with the capabilities of its staff, (like Dr. Mohammad Tarawneh, who is considered a distinguished international expert)), in addition to using external specialized agencies known for their competence, until it lost its cash liquidity, then confusion occurred. And due to the absence of a timetable for repaying this huge amount, and the lack of payment intention by the governments, the social security institution entered a dark tunnel from which it will not exit, and it will not return to its previous condition no matter how clever the clever try to compensate for the repayment with harsh measures that changed the retirement calculation, and became unfair to the subscribers. And I believe that the first noticeable decrease the institution will witness after revising its law, will be in the decrease in interest in optional subscription.
What the social security institution is suffering from is not of its own making, and not from cumulative errors from its administrations, at all. The problem came from outside the institution, and was imposed on it, when its huge cash liquidity was exhausted.
What befell the social security institution matches the local saying: ((Mother of Twins, she became a bereaver)). For the cornflake community, we clarify the meaning briefly: The situation of the social security is similar to the sheep (the ewe) that gave birth to twins at night, and for a reason unrelated to the mother (the ewe) she found in the morning that she had lost her twins. And this is what happened to the social security institution, which found itself as a successful institution, having cash liquidity equaling the entire nation's budget. Then the morning came, and it had lost the reputation of its successful administrations, and also lost its massive liquidity, which equaled the entire nation's budget.
Oh, the times of inversion, may God have mercy on our esteemed actor, who was one of us, and resembled us, Mr. Nabil Al-Mashini, and oh the devastation on the series (Abu Awad's Neighborhood).
