Gov’t decision to allow restaurants to start delivering food receives mixed reviews

AMMAN — Economy experts and citizens on Tuesday expressed mixed views regarding a recent government decision to allow restaurants to start delivering food.

On Monday, Tourism Minister Majd Shweik announced a slew of measures to help the sector weather the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic following consultations with the National Tourism Council and the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) and approval from the Cabinet.

One of the measures was launching a platform for tourist restaurants to apply for food delivery permits according to conditions that preserve public health and safety, in addition to launching a guidebook for all restaurants on safety measures and precautions for food delivery service.

These restaurants can also offer food pick-up services between 10am and 6pm, where citizens are only allowed to visit the restaurants on foot and receive their orders, according to the minister.

Economist Reem Badran welcomed the decision to open restaurants soon but added that “there are certain conditions that are impossible to implement in certain restaurants such as the use of electronic methods in these entities, which is a big impediment for the sector”.

“Paying electronically via a payment system at a tourist restaurant isn’t ideal as most of the customers do not own credit cards, the meals are under the minimum charge requirement and some restaurants only deal in cash,” Badran told The Jordan Times.

The government’s decision also stipulates that tourist restaurants work at a maximum of 20 to 30 per cent work capacity, accept only e-payment methods and only sell food that is cooked at high temperatures, she added.

Shweikeh stressed that all workers at these restaurants will have to undergo coronavirus testing before being allowed to work.

Director of the Phenix Centre for Economic Studies Ahmad Awad said this procedure, based on people’s reactions, is "infective and the government should increase the working hours because they need more preparation to secure delivery orders".

“The government should also study the possibility of opening smaller businesses under strict health measures,” Awad told The Jordan Times.

Former Minister Marwan Juma wrote on his Facebook page recently that opening the restaurants is a good idea “but it would be also good to allow the restaurants to start receiving guests under strict health measures and with a minimum capacity of people inside”.

However, social media users received the news with lots of scepticism voicing health fears.

“There is no need to open any restaurant since we have no idea how and who is preparing the food. This is dangerous to us and our families,” wrote Abo Alayhim Alamrny on Facebook.

Ziad Frejat on Facebook said: “The decision to open the restaurants is a hasty decision since people already bought lots of food and there are other entities that need to open. That is, if we want to protect the lives of our nation”.

But to Ali Al-Tai the decision was okay as long as they opened the sweets restaurants.

“The most important thing is to open sweet shops that serve Knafeh. We surely miss it,” Al-Tai wrote on Facebook.