King receives report of independent panel to probe Dead Sea floods
Shaheennews –
His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday received the report of the independent committee that was formed to probe the incident caused by flash floods in the Dead Sea area.
During a meeting with the chairperson and members of the committee at the Al Husseiniya Palace, King Abdullah directed Prime Minister Omar Razzaz to look into the report’s findings and recommendations.
His Majesty stressed the importance of the report, noting that there will be close follow-up over the measures taken by the concerned institutions in this regard.
After a briefing by the committee’s chair, Mohammad Raqqad, on the report’s main findings, the King said determining what took place in the Dead Sea incident is of utmost importance, expressing appreciation for the committee’s efforts.
His Majesty urged the government to study the panel’s recommendations and implement them.
Raqqad said the committee listened to the official account and to eyewitnesses. It also examined the report issued by the House of Representatives’ committee and conducted field visits to the site of the incident and to the Zarqa-Maeen dam.
Royal Hashemite Court Chief Yousef Issawi and Adviser to His Majesty and Director of the Office of His Majesty Manar Dabbas attended the meeting.
In its report, the committee calls for reviewing and updating regulations governing school trips, also stressing the need for legislation to regulate adventure tourism.
The panel recommends closer coordination within the Ministry of Education, and among the various concerned ministries and security agencies, stressing the need to activate the role of the National Centre for Security and Crisis Management with a clear mechanism for cooperation with the Higher Council of Civil Defence and other relevant parties.
The panel’s recommendations included ensuring that civil defence units in the Dead Sea area and other areas near water are sufficiently equipped to deal with natural disasters, while also ensuring hospitals in these areas are also capable of dealing with emergencies.
Calling for more accurate weather forecasts, the committee also noted the need for flood monitoring stations in valleys.
In addition, the recommendations stressed the need for building codes for flood hazard areas, and constructing more dams in areas with high rainfall.
The panel recommended closer coordination between government departments and the engineers and geologists associations to ensure public safety.
