For some, roads not safe enough to go to work

Source: Jordan Times, AmmanDec.self storage 17--AMMAN -- Several Amman residents said the government should have announced Monday as a holiday, since many were unable to make it to work due to heavy traffic congestion and slippery roads.They said the government should have advised people to remain home for their safety."I have been snowed in, and it is impossible to get my car out... leaving the house on foot or by car is also dangerous because of the icy roads, so it is better to stay home," Muna Alalul, a resident of the Um Summaq area in Amman, told The Jordan Times."The government knows it has not finished opening all the roads, and people cannot get out safely because they just don't have the right equipment, so they should just ask people to stay home to make their own life easier as well, so they would not have to rescue more people from accidents," added Alalul, a communications specialist at an organisation developing local tourism and.Alalul, like many others, said her employers told her not to come to the office due to the dangerous situation on the roads.Norma Nematt, a resident of Fuheis, some 20km northwest of Amman, complained about the authorities' inability to open roads at a time when the government expects employees to go to work."The government cannot ask people to go to work while it is aware that roads are slippery and that many are icy or still blocked by snow. It should do its duty first by opening roads," Nematt told The Jordan Times."A bulldozer came to open the main street in the area where I live, but when I asked the driver迷利倉to open the side road and remove the snow in front of the garage he ignored me and left," she said."The problem is that the driver removed the snow from the main road and dumped it in front of our house; I have been working for hours to remove the snow but to no avail," Nematt added, noting that her car is buried by snow.Some citizens said they paid drivers of some private bulldozers to remove the snow from the streets near their houses."I paid JD40 to one of our neighbours, who drives a bulldozer. He removed the snow from around the house and the side roads connecting our house to the main highway," Mohammad Qdeir, a resident of Qweismeh in east Amman said over the phone."It was a wrong decision by the government not to announce Monday as a holiday. Many private sector companies, such as the one where I work, asked employees to take the day off," said Mohammad Alsheikh, a salesman at a private company based in Khalda."My employer called me in the morning and told me not to come because the roads are icy and slippery," he added.His fiancee, Rana Al Zibdeh, who works at the Jordan Engineers Association, agreed."Many people are still stuck on the roads. It is very dangerous to drive and the security department is asking people to remain home, while the government wants people to go to work. It should be a holiday," said Zibdeh, adding that her employer told her to take the day off.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Jordan Times (Amman, Jordan) Visit the Jordan Times (Amman, Jordan) at .jordantimes.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉