After a session that lasted 5 hours ... the Jordanian MPs form a committee to investigate the incident of Salt, and the government pledges to ensure that those responsible are pursued and that the tragedy will not be repeated

The Jordanian Parliament decided to form a committee to investigate the incident at Al-Salt Governmental Hospital, while the government considered what happened to be unjustifiable negligence and pledged to take measures to ensure that it will not be repeated.

The House of Representatives ended a tumultuous session in which the deputies made their opinions about the incident before the government, in the presence of its president, Bishr Al-Khasawneh.

The parliament voted by majority on the decision to form the committee, which came after deliberations by the deputies demanding in some of them to withdraw confidence from the government, and to form a committee to verify the parliament to determine the circumstances of the case.

A statement issued by the Council described what happened as a painful tragedy, and considered that what happened was negligence that cannot be justified or tolerated, and those responsible for it must be held accountable and those who prove their negligence.

The interventions of many parliamentarians, during Sunday's session, carried strong criticism of the government, and a call for its resignation and a vote of confidence in it.

Deputy Abdul Karim Al-Daghmi said that the government acknowledged political responsibility, and that confidence must be put forward.

As for Saleh al-Armouti, head of the Parliamentary Reform Bloc, a jurist and former Bar Association, he described the incident as a "crime" and attributed it to the negligence of successive governments, and said that he bears responsibility for what happened to this government and demands that it resign.

The director of the Al-Jazeera office in the kingdom, Hassan Al-Shobaki, said that the parliament session lasted 5 hours, and that most of the deputies attacked the government, describing it as slack, and some of them demanded its resignation.

He also added that 13 deputies submitted a memorandum to put forward confidence in the government, and it was handed over to the General Secretariat.

He stated that MP Yal Fraihat said that this memorandum faced great pressure, and there was an attempt to hide it.

Governmental actions

The Prime Minister described the Al-Salt Governmental Hospital incident as negligence and negligence that cannot be justified.

Al-Khasawneh said that the government will not evade nor escape responsibility for the lack of basic service in hospitals in light of the Coronavirus pandemic, according to the literature on political work in Jordan.

He affirmed that he was responsible for what happened, and that the government requested the Judicial Council to conduct an independent judicial investigation.

And he announced that his government had taken a series of measures to determine criminal responsibilities for what happened.

For his part, the Minister of Health in charge, Mazen Al-Farraya, confirmed that the total number of people who died from Coronavirus yesterday in Salt Hospital reached 9 people.

Al-Faraya added, in a speech to Parliament, that the government had taken measures to ensure that the oxygen shortage incident did not recur, including increasing its stockpile in hospitals.

He said that among these measures is the appointment of an administrator (administrative governor) who is specialized in all hospitals, and his job is to solve problems.

And he indicated that the army has started building an oxygen plant, which will be ready within 3 weeks, and will be able to produce 600 cylinders and 10 tons of gas next April.

Protests

In parallel with the discussions taking place at the official and political levels, several cities, in the forefront of which were "Salt", witnessed loud protests last night, during which protesters demanded the departure of the government, and accountability for those who neglected the case of the lack of oxygen in the government hospital, which led to the death of a number of patients infected with the Coronavirus.

The Public Prosecutor arrested the director of the new Salt Hospital, 3 of his assistants, and the hospital's supply officer, a week in prison, and charged them with causing the death of these patients.

Today, he also heard the testimony of the dismissed Minister of Health, the director of city health, and the oxygen-supplying company.

For weeks, the Kingdom has witnessed an increase in the number of daily infections with the Coronavirus, reaching 61 deaths and 4,144 new infections yesterday, bringing the total to 469,000 cases and 5,285 deaths.