Following a meeting at its premises, the board of the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Night Clubs and Pastries announced in a statement yesterday that the waning sector will cease to exist before long. The statement criticized the procrastination by the government in addressing the demands of the tourism industry, noting that political interferences and the quota system have denied the sector its minimum requirements. “Hence, we cannot but mourn the industry and apologize to our employees and children for failing to secure their means of sustenance or to give them a glimmer of hope,” the statement said. Meanwhile, the Union of Syndicates of Hotels, Restaurants, Nutrition and Entertainment Employees in Lebanon denounced in a statement on May 13 the policies of the Social Economic Council which is fundamentally entrusted with the economic and social studies submitted to the cabinet and involved ministers in each economic sector. Regretfully, the statement went on to say, and after several meetings, we have were met with unresponsiveness and indifference towards human resources while at the same time, the rentier economy is constantly fostered and supported. The Council, according to the statement, should be the backbone for a productive rather than a rentier economy, provided it is galvanized by a domestic labor force in a way that supports tourism and approves draft laws and circulars reviewed by the ministry of tourism and the syndicates representing the sector. Remorsefully, this has ended up in a total disregard of the workers’ rights. (Al Diyar, An Nahar, May 14, 20, 2020)