Over 51 per cent find gov’t response plan to combat coronavirus ‘very effective’ — survey

AMMAN — A quantitative survey study, targeting civil society institution leaders in Jordan as well as local community and national activists, has shown that 51.7 of respondents found the government’s response plan to combat the spread of the coronavirus, generally, “very effective”, while 39.7 per cent found it “effective”.

The study was conducted by “Ain Al Mojtama” (Eye of Society) coalition, which comprises 232 civil society institutions in Jordan, and affiliated with Al Hayat Centre and the Civil Coalition for Monitoring Elections and the Performance of Elected Councils, Rased (Haya & Rased).

Rased General Director Amer Bani Amer said that the study aimed at detecting the opinions of respondents on the effectiveness, capability and transparency of the government’s efforts to combat the coronavirus crisis.

The study, which has been conducted since the beginning of April this year with respondents all over the Kingdom, has shown that 6.8 per cent were “neutral” regarding government’s response plan, in general, 1.5 per cent considered it “ineffective” and only 0.3 per cent responded with “completely ineffective”.

The survey has shown that 80.7 per cent of respondents were “satisfied” with the government’s “fairness” in dealing with the coronavirus crisis regarding all sectors and segments of society, while 9.7 per cent of respondents said they were “not satisfied” and 9.6 per cent were “neutral”, according to the figures provided in the study.

Regarding the government’s transparency in announcing the repercussions of the crisis and its impact on the economy, 25 per cent were “very satisfied”, 41.8 per cent were “”satisfied, 17.2 per cent “neutral”, 13.4 per cent were “unsatisfied” and 2.6 per cent were “completely unsatisfied”.

On the government’s performance regarding implementation of justice and sovereignty of law principles with those who violated the law, excluding government workers, 34.8 per cent were “very satisfied”, 42.6 per cent were “satisfied”, 11.1 per cent were “neutral2, 13.4 per cent were “unsatisfied” and 2.6 per cent “completely unsatisfied”.

Among the respondents, 30.3 per cent were “very satisfied” with the clarity of Defence Orders, government decisions and the simplicity of the language used to explain them to the public, while 40.1 per cent were “satisfied2”, 10.8 per cent “neutral”, 15.4 per cent “unsatisfied” and 3.4 per cent “completely unsatisfied”.

On the respondents’ opinion of the government’s performance regarding heeding human rights while dealing with the crisis, 32 per cent of the respondents found it “very good”, 40.7 per cent found it “good”, 16.6 per cent found it “medium”, 4.5 per cent found it “weak”, 2.7 per cent responded “very weak” and 3.5 per cent responded “I do not know”.

As for the government’s safeguarding of the freedom of expression, 28.2 per cent of respondents regarded it as “very good”, 42.7 per cent said it was “good”, 17.6 per cent said they found it “medium”, while 5.9 per cent, 3.6 per cent and 2 per cent responded with “weak”, “very weak” and “I do not know”, respectively, according to the study’s figures.

Regarding the effectiveness of the government’s decision to evacuate Jordanian students abroad, time-wise, 27.7per cent responded, “very effective”, 36.9 per cent with “effective”, 23.2 per cent were “neutral”, 9.3 per cent said it was “ineffective” and 2.9 per cent found it “completely ineffective”.

On the performance of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army and the authorities in dealing with the crisis, 73.4 per cent of the participants said they were “very satisfied”, 21.1 per cent “satisfied”, 3.8 per cent “neutral”, 1.7 per cent “unsatisfied” and zero per cent “completely unsatisfied”.

As for measures regarding providing face masks and other health protection necessities, 27.3 per cent said they were “very satisfied”, 39.9 per cent “satisfied”, 12 per cent “neutral”, 17.6 per cent “unsatisfied” and 3.2 per cent “completely unsatisfied”.

The survey showed that 58.9 per cent of the participants considered the decisions to isolate some governorates and neighbourhoods “very effective”, while 31.8 per cent found it “effective”, 6.6 per cent “neutral”, 2.4 per cent said it was “ineffective” and 0.3 per cent considered it “completely ineffective”.

On the government’s performance regarding its evaluation of economic and social impacts based on its response plan, 23.8 per cent of the participants found it “very good”, 38 per cent responded with “good”, 25 per cent with “medium”, 10.6 per cent with “weak” and 2.6 per cent with “very weak”.

The research showed that 21.1 per cent of the respondents were “very satisfied” with the government’s support to the most impacted segments, such as daily wage workers, 29.2 per cent were “satisfied”, 18.1 per cent were “neutral”, 22.1 per cent were “unsatisfied” while 9.5 per cent were “completely unsatisfied”.

The figures show that 19.7 per cent were “very satisfied” with the government’s measures regarding the rights of workers in the private sector, in relation to salaries, while 38.2 per cent were “satisfied”, 21.7 per cent “neutral”, 15.9 per cent “unsatisfied” and 4.5 per cent were “completely unsatisfied”.

As for measures to provide loans for companies, 21.4 per cent responded “very satisfied”, 35.9 per cent were “satisfied”, 31.6 per cent were “neutral”, 8.5 per cent “unsatisfied” and 2.6 per cent “completely unsatisfied”.

Regarding measures related to issuing paper and e-permits and the conditions for private sectors, 17.1 per cent were “very satisfied”, 31.4 per cent “satisfied”, 19.3 per cent “neutral”, 23.7 per cent “unsatisfied” and 8.5 per cent “completely unsatisfied”.

Regarding the Darsak platform launched by the Education Ministry for remote learning, 50.3 per cent of respondents said they were “satisfied” while 20.9 per cent were “unsatisfied”, and 10 per cent said they did not use it.

The survey showed that 48.3 per cent of the participants were “satisfied” by the usage of the stayhome.jo platform for issuing e-permits, launched by the Digital Economy Ministry, while 22.7 per cent were “unsatisfied” and 10.7 per cent said they did not use it.

Regarding e-services the government provided during the crisis in general, 70.1 per cent were “satisfied” and 13.8 per cent were “unsatisfied”, according the study.

It also showed that 63.2 per cent of the participants said it was “probable” for some private sector companies to not be able to pay salaries, 27 per cent said the probability was “medium”, 7.8 responded with “weak probability” and 2 per cent said it is “not probable”.

On unemployment rates, 80.5 per cent believe they are “bound to increase”, 16.4 believe the probability is “medium” while 2.1 per cent responded with “weak probability” and only 1 per cent did not find it “probable” that unemployment rates would increase.

The study also tackled the probability of closures for some shops and companies due to financial reasons, which 70.7 per cent of the respondents found “very probable”, while 55.3 per cent also found it “very probable” that many in the vocational sector, such as mechanics and carpenters, will lose their jobs.

Among the participants, 64.4 per cent said it is “very probable” that local revenue will drop due to government measures, while 68.8 per cent found it “very probable” that many citizens will not be able to buy their basic needs due to financial issues.

Regarding the trust in preserving of basic rights and freedoms for individuals and sectors during the crisis, 25.5 per cent voted “highly trust”, 38.7 per cent voted “trust”, 21 per cent were “neutral”, 12.6 per cent voted “I do not trust” and 2.2 per cent voted “I completely do not trust”.