AMMAN —
Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh said the government is contemplating adopting the
daylight saving time all year round, a plan that experts praised, saying it
will save energy.
اضافة اعلان
Winter time, in
which clocks are turned back 60 minutes putting the Kingdom two hours ahead of
Greenwich Mean Time, usually starts on the last Friday in October every year,
but maybe not this year.
The premier
appeared in a television interview, saying keeping the summer time all year
round was being reviewed by experts in the government, which is expected to
announce its decision on the finding within days.
Khasawneh revealed
that the US was also contemplating the same move.
Jordan and other
countries change their local time ahead of the spring and autumn. But in 2012,
the government canceled winter time, sparking calls by Jordanians demanding the
decision be revoked.
At the time, many
parents argued that their children became vulnerable to the cold, leaving the
house in the wee hours of the morning, while dark and cold, especially during
the winter days.
Eventually, the
government rescinded its decision. It was not immediately clear what prompted
the government to contemplate reinstating the old plan.
Energy expert
Amer Al-Shobaki told
Jordan News that the decision “is positive and in the
interest of the citizen”.
“Citizens might not
see the impact immediately, but they will feel it when the financial rewards
start dawning,” he said.
“The decision was
made to save on the energy bill of the state and citizens,” he said.
“In the morning,
the atmosphere is bleak and cold in winter, this requires a higher consumption
of electricity to secure lighting and heating. The effect is therefore
positive, but not clearly tangible.”
He noted that “the
first to act on this law was Britain to save citizens in winter and reduce
energy consumption in the morning.”
“In the early hours
of the morning, it is still dark, so people who have certain work that requires
them to leave their houses early, will consume more electricity,” he said.
“Adopting summer
time saves an hour of electricity consumption,” he added.
Mohammed Said, who
works at a restaurant in Western Amman, told
Jordan News that the idea
“will be of remarkable benefit to workers who wake up at dawn and early morning
hours to get ready for their work”.
He pointed out that
the idea will positively affect them, if adopted.
He said that he is
obliged to arrive at work earlier than others to prepare work for others. He
said “maintaining summer time all year gives me an extra hour, and therefore, I
can have an extra hour of sleep.”
Amman housewife Um
Khalid, 40, told
Jordan News that she preferred summer time because “it
has a positive impact on the safety of my children” because they will return
home from school before it gets dark.
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