Winter season emergency plan announced

AMMAN — Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Local Administration Tawfiq Kreishan on Tuesday announced the emergency plan to prepare for the coming winter season.

Kreishan called for opening operation rooms and ensuring the preparedness of vehicles and equipment. He also called for preparing halls in municipalities to be used as shelters in the case of an emergency during the winter season, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The minister called on ministry personnel and employees in municipalities and joint service councils to cooperate with the relevant public departments to unite efforts during emergencies and coordinate with private sector institutions and volunteers.

Under the plan, a total of 1,500 beds have been purchased, including 400 that will be provided to municipalities for emergencies and 100 beds that will be designated for the Social Development Ministry to use at affiliated shelter houses.

The plan aims to avoid road closures and keep the streets open that lead to vital facilities and major neighbourhoods.

Secretary General of the Local Administration Ministry Hussein Mheidat said that the plan has three levels: The first pertains to the state of maximum alert in case of snow accumulation, which requires opening operation rooms around the clock and ensuring the preparedness of the necessary equipment and vehicles.

The first level also entails opening roads that see snow accumulation immediately and opening as many lanes as possible of main roads to avoid traffic congestions, added Mheidat, who is also head of the emergency room at the ministry. 

As for the second level, it is related to the state of medium emergency in the case of heavy rainfall that requires opening operation rooms around the clock and addressing citizens' complaints, he noted.

The third level involves cases of low emergency, related to times of normal rainfall that require operation rooms to open according to needs. The third level allocated teams to deal with individual cases and receive and address citizens' complaints.