Switch to daylight saving time draws mixed reactions

AMMAN — Jordan is set to switch to summertime as of Thursday midnight, drawing mixed reactions from the public. 

As of midnight, of Thursday/Friday, March 25, clocks will be set 60 minutes forward, making the Kingdom three hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+3), the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

According to a Cabinet decision made in December 2013, clocks are set back one hour to mark the start of wintertime on the last Friday of October every year and set forward one hour on the last Friday of March every year to mark the start of summertime, which is applied to utilise the longer daylight hours to save energy. 

Rana Al Khayat, a working mother, told The Jordan Times: “Everyone loves summer days, specially that we missed out most of last year’s spring and summer days due to lockdown.”

“Switching to summertime is going to be beneficial because it is going to give us an opportunity to enjoy more sunlight,” Rana added. 

On the other hand, Diala Jaber, an office worker based in Amman feels like she does not have time to do anything. “Switching to summertime must happen when the imposed partial curfew is lifted, given that now daytime will get longer,” she said.

Farah Ahmad, a 17-year-old teenager, expressed her frustration with the current situation and the fact that she is not able to be outdoors as she would hope.

“I feel like I am losing my teenage years and I do not get time to spend summer evenings as teenagers should,” she said.

With the current unusual circumstances related to the COVID pandemic, including partial curfews and the Friday lockdown, longer daytime would go a long to improve people’s mood, Farah said.

“I will try to use longer daytime as much as I can to see friends and enjoy sunny days!” she said.