Khaberni - Economists and transportation specialists believe that setting the start of official working hours and school hours at 9 AM during the blessed month of Ramadan will lead to increased traffic congestion and operational costs, while others see that the decision helps citizens coordinate their working hours with their children's school hours, a demand that has been repeated during Ramadan in previous years.
The experts pointed out that starting the working hours of public institutions, ministries, universities, and schools at the same time will increase the pressure on streets, increase traffic congestion, add extra burdens on traffic management staff, as well as delay employees' arrival at work on time, increase transportation costs, and the associated psychological stress on workers, according to Al-Ghad.
They explained that the tension resulting from traffic congestion and delays in attendance negatively affects the employee's productivity and the quality of services provided, in addition to the extra economic burdens borne by the citizen.
Last Saturday, Prime Minister Dr. Jaafar Hassan issued an official notice setting the official working hours during the blessed month of Ramadan to be from 9 AM until 2:30 PM.
The decision includes all ministries, official departments, public institutions and bodies, in addition to official universities, municipalities, Greater Amman Municipality, and companies wholly owned by the government.
Also, the Ministry of Education, the day before yesterday, Sunday, issued an official circular to the directorates of education in various governorates of the kingdom, setting the official working hours for schools and directorates starting from the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadan, where the working hours for directorate employees start at 9 AM until 2:30 PM, while teaching in single-session schools starts at 9 AM, as well as the morning session in double-session schools.
Economic expert Zian Zuwaneh stated that the negative impacts of the decision outweigh its positives, especially in terms of increased traffic congestion, as employees and students will leave to the streets at almost the same time, leading to increased fuel consumption for cars and buses due to traffic issues, in addition to delays in reaching workplaces, which imposes an extra burden on traffic officers and pressure on the infrastructure.
Zuwaneh also pointed out that the negative effects also include increased levels of stress and psychological pressure resulting from congestion and delays, which negatively affects the productivity of employees and the quality of services provided to citizens.
On the other hand, economic expert Munir Abu Diyeh saw a positive aspect of the decision which enables employees to coordinate their working hours with their children's school and university schedules, a demand that had been raised during the month of Ramadan in previous years, noting that there is a relative similarity in the starting hours of work before Ramadan.
However, Abu Diyeh mentioned that matching the timing of the start of the workday during the sacred month, despite this similarity, will lead to deepening traffic congestion and increased fuel consumption, raising operational costs and resulting in delays for employees reaching their workplaces.
From his side, the head of the Voluntary Committee for Smart Application Captains, Lawrence Al-Rifai, considered the decision negative for both employees and captains of smart applications.
He explained that starting work during peak traffic hours will raise fares on passengers due to congestion, increase the cost of reaching workplaces, in addition to delays and stress, and the possibility of employees facing administrative penalties due to tardiness.
He added that citizens will face additional difficulties, as they will need to leave early to drop their children at schools well before the start of classes, besides dropping off working spouses at their workplaces, which constitutes exhaustion, additional costs, and delays in transportation.
Al-Rifai also pointed out that captains of smart applications will also be adversely affected by the alignment of employees' work hours with school hours due to traffic congestion, which limits the captain's ability to perform more than one trip during peak times.
