Apple growers to the streets again to claim their compensation entitlements

The president of the Lebanese Farmers Association, Antoine Howayek, warned in a statement yesterday the end to the suspension of protests in wake of the Cabinet meeting on Monday which, he said, totally disregarded an early decision to compensate apple growers. To recall, the government has decided back  in October 2016 to support the marketing of apples through the compensation of LBP 5 thousand for each apple box. In the latest updates on the issue, apple farmers are reportedly preparing for a sit-in this Thursday to speed up the solution. Meanwhile, a broad meeting between the Farmers Association, the Higher Relief Committee (HRC) and Army officers has resulted in an arrangement which provides for a fair and proportionate distribution of the total amount of compensation. Accordingly, payment procedures are expected to begin after presentation of agreed mechanism by the Cabinet and the issuance of some 30,000 cheques to be distributed after the Easter holidays and before the end of this month. However, tension rose again with the call for demonstrations by the Farmers Association as mentioned above. To this effect, Howayek appealed to the government and the HRC to commit to the agreed mechanism, warning of any tampering with the settlement of payments that needs to be completed by the end of Easter holidays. (An Nahar, Al Diyar, April 12, 2017)

Previous related news: 
Local farmers still awaiting their entitlements
Reimbursement of apple growers and the plight of potato growers in Akkar
Back to square one concerning citrus and apple marketing
Agriculture of Lebanon further deteriorates in 2016