Khaberni - Minister of Local Administration Walid Al-Masri stressed the importance of adopting advanced, scientific, and sustainable engineering solutions to rehabilitate the infrastructure in areas heavily affected by rainfall in the provinces of the Kingdom, especially Al-Karak province, to preserve the lives and properties of citizens.
During a field tour in Al-Karak province on Wednesday, Minister Al-Masri called for the unification of efforts of national institutions to rehabilitate the affected areas, which aligns with the effects of climate change, indicating that various areas in our region have experienced heavy rainfall due to the increasing impacts of climate change.
He explained that recording rainfall reaching about 70 mm per hour is an unprecedented amount in Jordan, posing a significant challenge to the existing infrastructure. He confirmed that these climate variables require the rehabilitation of drainage networks and infrastructure in harmony with the reality of climate change,
Minister Al-Masri stated that such amounts of rainfall cannot be absorbed by any traditional infrastructure, necessitating the adoption of temporary and urgent solutions to deal with its consequences, alongside preparing and implementing permanent and sustainable scientific engineering solutions.
Al-Masri underlined the importance of rebuilding the damaged part of the Al-Karak castle wall and preventing any future damages, emphasizing the need to prepare a comprehensive plan to preserve the castle and archaeological sites, and to rehabilitate the heritage buildings and revitalize the streets of old city of Al-Karak, following the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah II to develop an integrated plan to preserve the castle and revive the old city.
The Minister stressed the danger of building within the watercourses and valleys, calling for intensifying community awareness efforts and enhancing cooperation with citizens to prevent such offenses from recurring, and to find suitable and safe solutions for the buildings currently located in these areas.
Minister of Local Administration directed the specialized technical teams to prepare detailed engineering reports, in collaboration with the relevant authorities and the governor of Al-Karak, to accurately assess the extent of damages, and to devise urgent, medium, and long-term treatment plans.
In turn, Governor of Al-Karak Qablan Al-Sharif explained that the province faced significant challenges as a result of the heavy rainfall, where the amount of rainfall in some areas reached about 130 mm in four hours, which is equivalent to one-third of the annual rainfall average for the province, putting significant pressure on the drainage networks and infrastructure and revealing old organizational gaps.
Sharif confirmed that a comprehensive report will be prepared in cooperation with all relevant parties and submitted to the government, which will include the extent of the damage and short and long-term treatment approaches.
During the tour, the Minister listened to the observations of citizens in various areas, and was informed by the chairmen of municipal councils, the head of the Joint Services Council, directors of municipal affairs, engineering teams, and emergency rooms, about the measures taken during the rainfall wave, and the urgent efforts made to contain the damages, in addition to discussing mechanisms for developing sustainable solutions capable of dealing with the effects of climate change and the repetition of heavy rainfall in short periods.
The minister's tour included areas within the municipalities of Greater Karak, Mutah, Al-Mazar, and ‘Ayy, where he inspected the damages to the infrastructure in the affected areas, and also reviewed the impact on part of the wall of Al-Karak castle, listening to an explanation from the engineering teams present in the field for days to assess the extent of the damages.
