The current state of affairs in Al-Karak cannot be understood or addressed by searching for a single culprit or placing full responsibility on a specific entity. The current situation, which includes a clear decline in infrastructure, recurring road collapses, and daily suffering for citizens, is the result of longstanding accumulation that spans more than three decades, intertwined with planning errors, poor execution, and a lack of comprehensive developmental vision.
Attributing the crisis to weather conditions or natural factors doesn’t stand up to reality. Rain is not a new phenomenon in Al-Karak, the nature of the land is known, and the recurring collapses and fissures after each rainy season clearly indicate a structural defect in managing this issue. This defect is not limited to an engineering aspect but extends to public policies, decision-making mechanisms, and weak oversight and accountability.
Here, the responsibility is a collective one, starting with successive governments that did not prioritize the development of provinces, including Al-Karak, and passing through parliamentary and municipal councils that did not perform their supervisory and legislative roles adequately, and does not end with some officials who treated their positions as privileges rather than a trust. On the other hand, the local community cannot be absolved of some responsibility, when silence prevailed, or accepting the status quo, or losing faith in the possibility of change.
The importance of acknowledging this collective responsibility is that it is the first step towards genuine reform. Accountability cannot be effective without an honest diagnosis of the causes, and acknowledgment does not mean self-flagellation but rather opening the door to correcting the course. Moving from a discourse of blame to one of taking responsibility is what distinguishes societies capable of learning from their crises.
The consequences of the deterioration of infrastructure in Al-Karak are not only service-related but also affect the core of daily life. The disruption of citizens’ movement, difficulty accessing schools and hospitals, a decline in economic activity, and risks to public safety are all direct results of this reality. As these conditions persist, citizens’ trust in institutions erodes, and feelings of marginalization increase, which is one of the most severe challenges any area can face.
Marginalization does not happen suddenly but is gradually created. It is created when solutions are postponed, when projects become temporary measures, and when long-term planning is absent. It is also created when the organized community voice capable of responsibly demanding rights is absent. Therefore, rebuilding trust requires a true partnership between the state and the community, based on transparency and role-sharing.
What is required today in Al-Karak is not new promises, but a comprehensive review of what was previously implemented, a professional and candid evaluation of the quality of projects, and linking any future spending to clear and measurable standards. Also, involving local expertise and civil society in planning and oversight can be a real strength, instead of leaving citizens as mere recipients of outcomes.
The importance of this issue goes beyond the borders of Al-Karak, as it reflects a general model for dealing with developmental issues in provinces. If the state succeeds in turning the acknowledgment of collective responsibility into practical policies, sustainable plans, and fair accountability, then it will be an important step towards enhancing developmental justice at the national level.
Al-Karak does not request special privileges or seek exceptional treatment, but calls for a basic right: development based on proper planning, infrastructure that respects human dignity, and public responsibility practiced as a duty, not just a slogan. From here, the collective acknowledgment of mistakes is not a weakness but the beginning of the path towards a long-awaited reform.
Dr. Hani Al-Dmour
