Owners of vineyards in Deir el A7hmar area demand compensations because of frost

Head and members of ‘Cooperative Coteaux Heliopolis’ held a meeting last Monday at the center of Btad3i Vine Cooperative to discuss the aftermath of this winter’s frost storm which the wineries in the area. Vineyards of Safra, Bashawat, Deir el A7hmar, Elram, Al Kidam, Btad’I, Zrazir, Barqa and 3ainata were all affected. Cooperative chief, Shawki Fakhri appealed to the Ministry of Agriculture and to the Lebanese Government to immediately compensate some 300 concerned farmers whose losses exceeded millions of dollars. The frost storm that hit the area in late April and May caused unprecedented below zero temperatures. Fakhri also called on the Higher Relief Council to assess damages in the area. Similarly, farmer Tawfik Habshi from Deir el Ahmar lamented the inaction by Ministry of Agriculture and the HRC at a time when three quarters of the harvest were devastated.

(Source: Al Diyar, June 5, 2015)