Farmers, exporters and truck drivers stage a protest on Shtawra-Beirut highway

Beqaa farmers and exporters of agricultural products in collaboration with the Syndicate of Refrigerated truck drivers in Lebanon staged a sit in last Saturday on the main Shtaoura - Beirut highway in the Eastern Beqaa region during which they destroyed some of their produce to protest against the presently dire situation and to demand swift support of maritime and air transport. The protest followed a large meeting that was held at the HQ of the Association of Beqaa Farmers in Riyyaq that was headed by Ibrahim Tarshishi, the head of the association who outlined the various problems facing these economic sectors namely: the frost storms which hit the region last April and which devastated almost half of the production; the 85-day long closure of the land transport routes with no clear prospects yet for government financial support to alternative sea route, and finally the persistent smuggling of goods through the Hermel and Tripoli border points. During Saturday’s protest, MP Assem Araji echoed the plight of farmers noting to their large outstanding debts to the banking sector, which could lead them to prison. Likewise, head of the Syndicate of Refrigerated Truck Drivers Omar Al Ali appealed to the Interior Minister to bar the entering to the Lebanese sea ports of empty non-Lebanese refrigerated trucks so that they do not compete with Lebanese trucks, and to restrict the transport of goods from Lebanon to Syria to those Lebanese trucks owned by Lebanese persons. (Al Diyar, An Nahar, As Safir, 26 and 28 June 2015)