The campaign “justice for the Mohafaza of Akkar” kicks off and a call for a sit-in next Saturday in Halba

The President of Union of Municipalities of Central and Coastal Qayta'a, Ahmad el Mir, declared on behalf of the municipalities and federation of municipalities in Akkar, as well as MPs Mouin al-Merhebi  and Nidal Tohmeh, and several local leaders, the launch of the campaign “justice for the Mohafaza of Akkar”.  The aim of the campaign is to inform the public on the marginalization of Akkar by this cabinet and its predecessors especially following decision number 99 and  Decree number 13068, issued by the Lebanese government and  which allocated to Akkar only USD 7 million out of a total of USD 200 million earmarked for development projects across Lebanon.

Al Mir called for a sit-in by the Municipality in Halba next Saturday July 5th in addition to a sit-in by the Serail in Beirut which date will be decided later.  Those present in the meeting also threatened with escalating their actions reaching  civil disobedience.  In addition, a committee of lawyers was set up to undertake a legal study of the said budgetary allocation especially that MPs had in the past protested the way in which development budget was distributed.

Within the same vein, MPs Merhebi and Daher and the presidents of federations of municipalities drafted a letter to MP Tammam Salam informing him of the objection regarding the decision and asking him to revert it. Furthermore, the municipalities, municipal federations and CSOs observed last Sunday a sit in at the municipal hall in Halba as a first step in their mobilization against this decision.  The President of Union of Municipalities of Qayta'a, Abdul Ilah Zakaria, asked the Cabinet whether Akkar and its resident are on the map of Lebanon and called for justice. He also declared that Akkar will no longer accept being marginalized; stressing that the financial allocations must be made according to population size and surface area.  Finally, he insisted that the allocation for Akkar should represent at least 13% of the total earmarked funds.
(Source: Al – Akhbar, Addiyar 1 July 2014, Assafir 30 June, Assafir- Nahar, Al Mustaqbal 28 June 2014)