News

The Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Night Clubs and Patisseries in Lebanon announced yesterday the shutdown of some 265 food enterprises in a period of two months. It said that another 200 institutions are expected to close during this month, considering that such figures have been recorded after the statement released by the Syndicate in the wake of the 17 October Uprising. Recalling, that the Syndicate has warned of the repercussions of tax increases in the absence of the basic living, social, economic, financial and environmental needs, coupled with the sharp decline in the purchasing power. With the holiday season close at hand, which gives the owners of establishments a glimmer of hope, there are still no encouraging signs in terms of preparations and bookings for the festive season, the statement said. The Syndicate appealed to the officials and decision-makers to act responsibly for one time and step up the formation of the government in order to salvage the waning sector which is currently in a state of coma. Meanwhile, the head of the Lebanese Farmers’ Association, Antoine Howeyek, revealed to An Nahar daily that the demand on agri products has fallen by nearly 50% during the past two months, which led to a decline in the prices of those commodities as a result of reduced consumption. Howeyek explained that the upshots of the economic crisis on all sectors has aggravated the anguish of agriculture and farmers, pointing out that the purchasing power of the Lebanese has weakened and their resources dropped, as well as the activity of hotels, restaurants and hospitality establishments. The problems of the previous period are still there, and now they are combined with a shrinking consumption. (An Nahar, Al Diyar, November 26, 2019)
 

Al Akhbar daily highlighted individual initiatives launched by Southern communities to return to the roots and achieve food self-sufficiency. It brought to mind the food security strategy kicked off 9 years back by the Hizbullah-backed Unions of the Municipalities of Jabal Amel and Bint Jbeil. The newspaper mentioned a number of undertakings to this effect, most notably: ‘I am part of the resistance, I am a farmer’. The latter, to note, was started by Hussein Abbas, from the Bint Jbeil town of Hanin. It inspires land proprietors to plant their stretches of land with staple food crops and breed livestock and poultry to meet consumption needs. This initiative which some believed unfeasible, was developed by the local municipalities into a project, Al Akhbar said, mentioning another initiative, ‘Khairatna bi Ardna’ (The resources of our land). The latter is run by the mayor of Ainata, Riad Fadlallah, to encourage locals to cultivate their land, (up to 150 dunums), with chickpeas, lentils, corn and fava beans under the supervision of the ministry of agriculture. In this regard, the municipal member in the first district controlled by Hizbullah, Ali Zein, spoke to Al Akhbar about several similar initiatives launched in the past years within the municipalities of Jabal Amel and Bint Jbeil. The aim, he said, was to create jobs in the remote areas, including the distribution of some 3,000 chickens to those willing to raise poultry on small scale; support of the beekeeper community; the building of a dairy factory; the distribution of small fruit, olive, fig, thyme and carob trees and seedlings. On the other hand, Kamal Fouani from Houla, questioned the efficacy of such initiatives, outlining some difficulties farmers could face, particularly the high cost of labor, the summer water shortage and the soaring prices of imported seeds and fertilizers. In a related vein, Al Akhbar cited southerners as saying that the current food scarcity is in fact the direct upshot of the policy of siege and starvation against the resistance community. (Al Akhbar, November 25, 2019)
 

The Lebanese women basketball team returned from Morocco with an unprecedented victory winning the Arab Club Basketball Championship, Al Akhbar reported today. To note, the women’s team has joined the regional championship without being within the two runners up. This, at least, against its rivals who believed it was not close to beat the two-time winning Al Riyadi or Homentmen, who reaped the title of the latest two editions, Al Akhbar wrote. According to the newspaper, the Beirut team accomplishment is quite exceptional, noting that it was acquired from the club’s first participation in the championship after Al Riyadi pulled out for unknown, probably financial, reasons. The Beirut team management was bold enough to accept the invitation to represent Lebanon, Al Akhbar said, while mentioning that it did not play any match in the higher division it was recently promoted to. (Al Akhbar, November 25, 2019)