Right to work, right to rest

In its continuous efforts to make life in Amman more agreeable, the Greater Amman Municipality has just issued new regulations governing working hours at construction sites.

The director of the building control department at GAM said the step was taken due to complaints from residents living by construction sites who had to put up with noise and disturbances, until now when the new rules are set, at all hours of the day.

The working time is clear now: 7:30am to 5pm on weekdays and 8:30am to 6pm in Ramadan. During Fridays and public holidays workers are off.

This is good news. Often, before, one would be woken up in the wee hours of the morning by jackhammers or be kept awake all night by the deafening noise of bulldozers, concrete pumps, heavy trucks or what have you.

One understands that people have the right to build. But citizens, particularly old, sick and children, also have the right to rest.

Rules such as this one should have long been issued. Some were, but were never respected, like so many other regulations that some people think they can bypass and outsmart — and often they do.

So now it is a matter of enforcement. For that, GAM will have to make an extra effort, sending its officials on random inspections.

The rules regulating construction, moreover, will not only secure the convenience and comfort of people; they will also serve and promote work safety, protecting workers from accidents often associated with long working hours and little rest. Not to mention productivity, which cannot be sustained efficiently over long hours.

The rules governing working hours at construction sites should be extended to others as well.

It is not only construction sites that make noise. Street vendors and garbage collectors, for example, should also come within the purview of these rules.

People are entitled to enjoy resting hours at home free from disturbances.

GAM should therefore continue its endeavours to make life in Amman and other areas of the country pleasant by making them at least less noisy and pollution free.

Other amenities — parks, bicycle lanes, benches, trash bins should follow. And soon.