Although the authorities’ winter preparations are in full swing, Jordanians are fearful of being unable to warm their houses during the harshest winter days.

Nasser Al Rahamneh, Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) spokesperson confirmed to The Jordan Times that winter preparations are indeed underway, adding that “GAM and the Jordan Electricity company launched intensive campaigns to trim trees that pose danger to the electricity cables in Amman”.

Rahamneh said that GAM, the Jordan Electricity company and the Ministry of Agriculture are taking all precautionary measures to avoid power outages this season.

Taking note of these efforts, Jordanians have reported frequent maintenance to electricity cables at Al Rabieh, Airport Road and Shmeisani neighbourhoods in Amman.

“There is ongoing maintenance for the power lines on the street I live on,” Rabieh resident Shatha Mustafa told The Jordan Times.

Mustafa added that the last snowstorm caused a lot of damage to nearby power lines. However, she added, this is “the first time she has seen this amount of professional work done in her area”.

However, with soaring energy prices and winter weather rapidly approaching, many residents of the Kingdom are facing “a precarious balance” between warming their homes sufficiently and paying their electricity bills.

“Harsh winds and ‘unbearable’ cold weather are the things I fear during winter,” Mustafa said.

“Fuel prices are skyrocketing,” Jordanian Ola Salos told The Jordan Times, adding that household providers need to secure their households with heating options, all of which require a substantial amount of money in light of current fuel prices.

“I don’t know how I will afford to fill my diesel tank this winter,” Ali Mas’deh told The Jordan Times.

Meanwhile, civil engineer Faris Abdel Rahman told The Jordan Times that many households in the Kingdom suffer from poor thermal insulation in general, “which adds to the financial burden of their heating bill”.

“Poor insulation makes households harder to warm up and maintain a reasonable temperature,” Abdel Rahman added.

Abdel Rahman stated that due to the lack of proper thermal insulation, people will need to keep their heat sources running for longer periods of time, leading to economic and environmental concerns.

Adding to the struggles of the season, respiratory disease consultant Abdel Hameed Najad said that there’s a strong correlation between health issues and low temperatures in the winter, especially for children.

“Kids living in low-temperature households are at a higher risk of developing or worsening the severity of respiratory conditions, such as asthma attacks or asthmatic symptoms, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other infections,” Najad said.

Economist Wajdi Makhamreh noted that in light of the soaring fuel prices, many will be unable to adequately warm their households.

He stated that heating bills impose huge financial — and even psychological — burdens on low- and middle-income households.

According to Makhamreh, people are looking for heating alternatives. Jordan might see people replacing their gas cylinders and HVAC units with firewood, he added.

 

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