Once again Morocco will have an unusual daylight saving schedule. The problem has always been that some people have objected to having the time change during Ramadan. Critics say this makes no logical sense, but is at a religious sensibility.
 |
| There will be a lot of time changing in Morocco this year |
With Ramadan moving earlier each year, it is an ongoing problem and this year a new solution has been found. Morocco will set its clocks one hour ahead from the end of April to the end of September - except during the holy month of Ramadan. Daylight saving will resume after Ramadan. This has been decided by the Government’s Council.
Official times courtesy of timeanddate.com
The history of daylight saving has been a mixed one that started in 2008. Morocco decided to trial daylight saving time when it moved the clock one hour forward (UTC+1) at midnight between May 31 and June 1 . The daylight saving schedule was supposed to end September 28th that year. However, the many individuals and business groups were surprised when a decision was suddenly made to end the daylight saving date nearly a month ahead of schedule. The decision also played havoc with international airline schedules. (See our 2008 story here)
Hopefully this year will see the time changes running smoothly, though how airline schedules will deal with the on-again then off-again for Ramadan (probable dates are July 21 to August 19 ) and then on-again... is anyone's guess. A draft decree, adopted by the Government’s Council stipulates that the standard time will be resumed at 3 am on the last Sunday in September,.
Speaking in this regard, Minister in charge of Civil Service and the Administration Modernisation said that that daylight saving changes will boost Morocco’s economic competitiveness through reducing energy consumption and facilitating transactions with foreign partners.
This timing, he said, would enable Morocco to save 140 megawatts at peak time, which in turn will have a positive impact on the environment and on the investments of Morocco’s electricity utilities.
SHARE THIS!
2 comments:
The time change during Ramadan is a luxury that those observing the fast in northern hemisphere regions with much longer daylight hours cannot benefit from.
In addition the reality on the ground in rural towns and villages is that they do not observe the time change and everyone continues to live their lives according to the sun's rising and setting times thereby reducing any potential energy savings and introducing a two time country!
A complicated few years ahead beckons....
End of March or end of April?
Post a Comment