(MENAFN- Jordan Times) AMMAN — Following heavy rain that flooded downtown Amman and caused 'extensive damage', citizens took to social media to express their frustration over the country's 'poor' infrastructure, while others launched an initiative to extend a helping hand to those affected.
The latest depression, which brought with it an extensive amount of rain to water-deprived Jordan, also brought with it losses estimated in the thousands for downtown shops, according to various owners.
Mahmoud Bataineh, an owner of a toy shop in the area, said he and other shop owners estimated their losses at between JD3,000 to JD5,000 per shop.
'The water flooded our shops... We could not save anything, and the items that we did save were already soaked and ruined,' he told The Jordan Times over the phone.
Water flooding downtown Amman was documented in several videos which quickly spread over social media, evoking frustration from citizens.
'This same scenario happened in 2015. What has the municipality been doing for the past four years?' Mahmoud Zaeem asked on Twitter.
'We are not criticising the government for the sake of criticising. We are doing it because the municipality, whose budget is around JD600 million and continuously says it is 'fully prepped' for any depression, thinks we are fools who will believe anything,' lawyer and activist Tarek Abu Ragheb Tweeted.
In an attempt to calm the waters, acting ِAmman mayor Hazem Neimat told Petra that 'if it was not for the infrastructure work the municipality has done over the past four years, the situation would have been much worse'.
However, his comments received backlash on social media.
'I have worked in downtown Amman for the past four years and I have not seen one infrastructure development project. Is the work you are talking about, perhaps, only on paper?' said Amin Abu Nahar in a post.
'Does he think we are simpletons? Do we really look that gullible?' Yousef Abu Shuqeir Tweeted.
Amidst the online criticism and videos of flooding in downtown Amman, the hashtag '#Yalla_3al_Balad', translated into, 'Off to Downtown' began trending as a way to encourage people to buy their weekly essentials from shops affected by the flooding to support shop owners.
'A very kind and mature act of the Jordanian people, this truly does reflect Jordanian values,' wrote Zahra Matar in a post.
Some associations and civil groups have scheduled group outings to downtown Amman next week to support shop owners, such as the architecture bureau association.
However, Yazan Hamadeh Tweeted that, 'we have to be clear that the citizens who can barely get by each month are not the ones responsible for the shop owners' compensation'.
Secretary General of the Amman Chamber Industry said in a statement that owners who incurred damages should report their estimated losses as soon as possible, a statement which prompted many of them to visit the chamber on Saturday.
'We will hopefully be able to fairly compensate all those affected,' the statement concluded.
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