Khaberni - The Minister of Local Administration, Engineer Walid Al-Masry, stated that the ministry has monitored approximately 50 hotspots across different areas of the kingdom, which are prone to flash floods and rising water levels to critical levels, based on the results of a comprehensive field survey conducted by the ministry as part of its preparations for dealing with atmospheric depressions.
Al-Masry added, in media statements on Tuesday evening, that the ministry classified several sites as hotspots, requiring monitoring and intensive intervention during weather depressions, including Al-Tawheed Pond in Rusaifa, and the town of Iraq in Karak, in addition to areas in the Northern Jordan Valley, Zarqa, Hashemiya, and Madaba, noting that these areas are under close surveillance by the operations rooms and field crews.
He confirmed that the quantities of rainfall during the current weather depression were surprising and exceeded expectations, explaining that climate change has made it difficult for the old infrastructure to accommodate the large water flows experienced by the kingdom during short periods of time.
He clarified that the infrastructure in several governorates faced difficulties in coping with the amounts of rainfall, pointing out that the field efforts from all sides, who worked with a team spirit, contributed to minimizing the damage.
Al-Masry indicated a governmental direction to enhance the public safety system, through establishing a sophisticated early warning system that covers all areas of the kingdom, and is expected to be operational soon, contributing to improving readiness and early response to risks.
He emphasized that the ministry is continuously working to address the imbalances in the infrastructure in some areas classified as hotspots, focusing on technical solutions that help in predicting risks before they occur.
He mentioned that the cost of repairing and addressing the infrastructure in the kingdom could reach about 100 million dinars, confirming that the ministry will commence this year by allocating approximately 24 million dinars for repair works and addressing imbalances in various governorates, of which the government has allocated 10 million dinars.
It should be noted that the Central Emergency Room in the Ministry of Local Administration dealt with 151 observations, 135 of which have been addressed, with work ongoing to address 16 observations, in addition to hundreds of observations handled by the subsidiary emergency rooms in all regions of the kingdom.
