Long 'snow holiday' has its supporters, detractors

AMMAN — The long holiday announced during the current snowstorm to avoid accidents elicited some citizens' ire but others expressed relief, especially students, who saw it as a good chance to prepare well for their exams.

On his Facebook page, Nidal Mansour, head of the Centre for Defending the Freedom of Journalists, wondered how the government would react if the snowstorm continues to affect Jordan.

He asked whether the government would announce a public holiday indefinitely.

Mansour also called for adopting certain measures to ensure that productivity continues during similar weather conditions.

Ameenah Daraghmeh, who works at an international agency, said she wants to go back to her office as soon as possible as she has “lots of work to complete”.

She explained that she can’t finish all her work from home, and the longer the holiday is, the more work she will have when she goes back to her office.

Above all, Daraghmeh said she is bored at home, and “the only thing I am doing is eating… no way to avoid it.”

Wafa Hussein, a teacher at a public school, said she was looking forward to the winter holiday to do some activities with her children.

“Now I am stuck at home, no activities to do,” she said.

Hussein, who has lived in France, said, "I wish the government could find another mechanism where people can practice their normal lives and activities even in such a storm."

“When I was in France, even when it was snowing, I used to go out; the roads were not slippery as they spray salt all the time to avoid accidents,” Hussein told The Jordan Times, wondering whether the government would continue to announce days off if more snowstorms hit the country.

She added that although she understands that the government is doing this to protect the lives of citizens and avoid major accidents, “there should be a sustainable solution in these emergencies.”

But for students who have exams, the situation is different, as this holiday provides them with more time to study.

Maen Omar, a General Secondary Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) student said: “I have more time to study for my exams now.” 

Omar added that he was afraid of being unprepared for some of the exams last week, but with their postponement due to the weather conditions: “I can review the textbooks over and over.”

Mona Abu Saleh, a media officer at an NGO, shared his sentiments.

Abu Saleh said she was supposed to sit for postgraduate exams during the past few days. 

“Thanks to the storm, I can study more now,” she told The Jordan Times.

Economist Yusuf Mansur, however, pointed out the flipside of the long holiday.

He wrote on his Facebook page that a day off costs the Kingdom's economy JD100 million in losses, noting that the four-day holiday due to the weather has caused JD400 million in losses.

Forty per cent of this is government losses in daily tax revenues, Mansur added.