Page 12 - MEOG Week 10

MEOG
neWs In BrIeF
MEOG
PoLICy
Iran threatens use of
force to restrict spread of
coronavirus
Iran has said it may use force to stop people travelling between cities, as it reported a big one-day rise in cases, while globally the number of confirmed cases rose above the 100,000 mark.
The possible measure was announced during a televised press conference by a health ministry spokesman, who said the authorities had confirmed 4,747 cases of the virus, a rise of 1,234 on the day before.
While he did not elaborate on the threat to use force, the spokesman acknowledged that the virus was present in all of Iran’s 31 provinces.
The threat may be aimed at stopping people from using closed schools and universities as an excuse to go to the Caspian Sea and other holiday spots in the run-up to the Persian new year, which falls on 21 March.
Semi-official news agencies in Iran posted images of long lines of traffic of people trying to reach the coast from Tehran on Friday despite authorities earlier telling people to remain in their cities.
Checkpoints on roads in Mazandaran
and Gilan provinces were being operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in perhaps the most visible intervention by the state yet. There also appeared to be checks for those entering or leaving the holy city of qom.
Friday prayers and football matches have already been cancelled but public trust in the authorities’ capacity to deal with the virus had been undermined by the government’s sluggish and complacent initial response to the outbreak, and by state’s secrecy over the killing of hundreds of street protesters in
November.
The number of confirmed cases of the
virus worldwide passed 100,000, according
to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University,
and the World Health Organization warned some countries were not showing the political commitment needed to “match the level of the threat we all face”.
Tehran has been stung by criticism of its handling of the outbreak, pointing to WHO assessments that have not challenged the government’s official figures. Health officials said the new figures may reflect the availability of more accurate testing kits.
In two further signs of rising concern about the situation in Iran, Christoph Hamelmann, the WHO country director,
told senior overseas diplomats in Tehran
that funding was urgently needed for a
“rapid upscaling” of laboratory and clinical components, and Saudi Arabia called on citizens to declare visits to Iran in the past 14 days. Members of the kingdom’s Shia minority tend to keep their visits to Iran secret because of the bitter rivalry between the two countries.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, 12 new cases were reported among workers on a cruise ship in Egypt. A tourist who travelled on the same ship sailing between luxor and Aswan tested positive for the virus on her return to Taiwan a week ago.
the GuardIan
Jordanian project
introduces measures to cut
bills
The Jordanian Ministry of Public Works and Housing on Monday launched the roll-out phase of the Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings (EEPB) project, which aims at reducing the energy bills of the kingdom’s public buildings, which cause budget
constraints.
Jordan has worked to establish
comprehensive programmes and strategies to protect the environment and create sustainable economic development, Public Works Minister Falah Omosh said at the launch ceremony.
The EEPB project, he noted, is being executed by the Public Works Ministry in close cooperation with the education and health ministries.
German Development Bank (kfW) Director in Jordan Christian Schaub expressed his appreciation for the “strong commitment and excellent cooperation” of these partnering ministries.
Through the installation and activation
of energy saving and management systems, such as advanced air conditioning systems, the project will attempt to reduce up to 50
per cent of the energy consumed in public buildings. It is being funded through a 15-million-euro development loan from kfW, according to event organisers.
The project is being introduced in two phases: The pilot phase, which just concluded, and the roll-out phase. Five public buildings were selected for the implementation of the first phase, serving as a prototype for the EEPB and providing data to support the energy monitoring process.
The five buildings rehabilitated in the pilot phase include the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Al Nadeem Hospital in Madaba, Al Bashir Hospital’s obstetrics building, the Amman Health Centre and Thoqan Hindawi School for Boys, German Ambassador to Jordan Birgitta Maria Siefker-Eberle said during the launch event.
“Germany has a long-standing and strong cooperation with Jordan,” the ambassador noted, adding her country has “firmly” established itself as the second-largest bilateral donor to Jordan, providing over 800 million euros in support in 2019 alone.
She noted that the EEPB is a ‘pioneering project’, as the Government of Jordan has
led the way in reducing the consumption of energy in public buildings, which in turn has a “significant” environmental impact through cutting carbon emissions by about 13,000 tonnes.
The roll-out phase is set to see the implementation and installation of various energy-saving measures and technologies
in 200 schools, hospitals and government buildings that have high energy consumption, according to organisers, who added that the project should be completed in 2021.
Jordan tImes
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Week 10 11•March•2020