We need quick answers about power outage during snowstorm: MPs

Jordan

Published: 2022-01-31 13:12

Last Updated: 2024-03-29 13:17


We need quick answers about power outage during snowstorm: MPs
We need quick answers about power outage during snowstorm: MPs

During a meeting held Monday by the Parliamentary Energy and Mineral Resources Committee to discuss power outages during the latest air depression, MP Abdullah Awad demanded quick answers about the issue.

Another MP Nidal Al-Hiyari said that the planting of trees is done randomly, and therefore the snow weighs heavily on the trees, causing the trees to break.

MP Mujhem Al-Sqour said that what happened during the depression is “unacceptable.”

For his part, the head of the committee Firas Al-Ajarmeh asked the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Saleh Al-Kharabsheh for clarification on the power outages that occurred during the depression.

Kharabsheh responded that the power outages that affected several regions in Jordan, especially the capital, Amman, are “unacceptable.”

The power outages occurred after several governorates in the Kingdom witnessed heavy snowfall.

Kharabsheh indicated that "the large number of malfunctions doubled the challenges faced by the Jordanian Electricity Company."

However, he continued "We do not say that the response, whether from the company or the parties that can help the company, were at the required level, as the reality of the interruptions that occurred is unacceptable, especially the power outages that extended for long periods.”

He said "It is unacceptable that power outages last for 30 or 40 hours."

Kharabsheh stressed that he was not present in the session to defend anyone, and that all parties would be held accountable if it became clear that any party was involved in the issue.

Kharabsheh indicated that the government assigned a specialized committee to investigate the causes of the outage.

Last Saturday, the Parliamentary Energy Committee began investigating the power outage during the period of the depression.


Also Read: Government to investigate power outage during snowstorm


Earlier, the Cabinet discussed, in its session held Sunday evening, headed by Prime Minister Dr. Bishr Al-Khasawneh, the problem of power outages in neighborhoods in the capital Amman and some other cities during the recent atmospheric depression.

During the discussion, the council addressed the reasons for the long period of power outage in some locations, and the long time it took to return it to thousands of residents.

In this regard, the Prime Minister said that the power outage for some citizens for long hours, sometimes reaching 36 hours, "is a matter that we do not accept for citizens just like we do not accept it for ourselves."

The PM indicated that the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO), which is owned by the government, is not concerned with this defect, but it is the government's duty and responsibility to intervene, especially in light of the long periods of power outages which affected many residents.

In this regard, the Council of Ministers assigned the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dr. Saleh Al-Kharabsheh, to form an independent investigation committee immediately.

The investigation must be completed and its recommendations presented within three weeks at the latest, in order to determine the responsibilities and shortcomings - if any - and to take administrative and legal measures against the defaulters according to the guarantees and legal responsibility.

The Council of Ministers also decided to assign a consulting company to assess the status of the electrical network in various regions of the Kingdom, especially in the capital, Amman, and to work on modernizing it, and setting standards for evaluating the performance of electricity distribution companies so that they are compatible with international standards.

Similarly, the Council of Ministers decided to assign the relevant ministries and institutions to conduct a comprehensive survey of trees intertwined with electricity poles and wires inside cities and to treat them, in order to avoid recurring power outages in some areas if affected by weather conditions.

Additionally, Sunday, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Lawrence Majali, said that the ministry had sent a letter to the Jordan Electric Power Company last month to coordinate with the company and work on pruning trees that affect electrical wires in the streets in anticipation of the winter season.

Majali added, in an exclusive interview with Roya’s Nabd Al Balad, that the minister directed the planting of new trees that would withstand wind and snow.

Majali pointed out that the electricity company can trim trees in the street that hinder its work without approval from the Ministry of Agriculture.