Call to the new Cabinet for supporting the olive oil sector

The follow-up committee of the organizations representing the olive oil sector met upon the invitation of the president of the association of olive farmers in Kura, George Constantine Inati, and announced its new action plan, and addressed an open letter to the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the House and the Prime Minister as well as the members of the Cabinet entrusted with drafting the Ministerial Statement.  The committee reiterated its past demand, aiming at the development of agricultural communities of Lebanon. It called for the protection of national production, the banning of imports of olive oil, combating economic terrorism which takes the form of spoiling the quality of local olive oil production, stopping the ravaging of olive trees orchards through construction and protecting historical olive trees.  The committee is also demanding that the Ministries of Economy and Trade, and Agriculture put in place effective measures to combat pests and diseases attacking olive trees, introduce a tax on cement extraction from planted land, subsidize olive orchards with cash and finally, introduce a national plan to plant one hundred million olive trees to combat global warming, climate change and desertification.
Source: Al-Nahar 20 February 2014