BEIRUT: Scores of taxi, bus and truck drivers in Lebanon began a three-day strike on Wednesday, blocking roads and demanding that the government address surging prices and the wider economic crisis.
It was the second time in three weeks that unions have organized industrial action, forcing schools, universities and many shops to close.
The protesting drivers are demanding subsidized fuel for their vehicles, among other things. The cabinet has ignored the demands during marathon meetings to discuss this year’s austerity budget.
Angry drivers set tires on fire in Beirut and blocked the main entrances to the capital and its suburbs with their cars. There were similar scenes in other major cities in several regions.
Wednesday’s protests were scheduled to continue until 3 p.m. but ended at noon following objections from people stuck in their cars on blocked roads. The demonstrations forced the closure of public and private institutions and businesses, as employees could not get to work.
Bassam Tlais, head of the Unions and Syndicates of Land Transport Sector, acknowledged the inconvenience to commuters and reduced the demands of unions to one: “For the cabinet to approve what was decided to support the land-transport sector, with implementation to take place as a next step.”
He added: “This demonstration will last three days and we will wait and see how it will play out in the cabinet. Otherwise, the situation will escalate.”
Ministers have been debating the budget that will be submitted to parliament for approval. Many people have protested against the budget, even before it is finalized, as it includes additional taxes. Meanwhile government fees are still being calculated according to the official exchange rate of 1,507 Lebanese pounds to the dollar, but this is not generally available and on the black market the local currency has lost most of its value.
An economic-social forum that includes political and economic opposition figures said: “The 2022 draft budget aims at increasing poverty, starvation, inflation and deflation, and is a project to legitimize the politically, economically and financially corrupt system.
“The draft budget includes a massive increase in taxes and fees, about 90 percent of which are indirect taxes imposed on the poor and middle-income earners, while taxes on capitalists’ gains do not exceed 3.7 percent.
“The increase in taxes is accompanied by a reduction in spending on infrastructure investment, for which only (about) 4 percent has been allocated.”
After the sign-up period for the recently introduced DAEM Social Safety Net Program expired recently, it appeared that more than 550,000 families had registered. Observers say this represents about “50 percent of Lebanese families.”
There were also protests by angry residents in some areas on Wednesday about the wildly fluctuating prices of food, fuel, power and services. In the southern border town of Al-Khiam, a pro-Hezbollah community, people demonstrated outside the local municipal building about “the high cost of the unjustified” bills for using power generators and “the lack of transparency on the part of the generator committee.”
Residents also demanded that the Ministry of Economy “immediately take the necessary steps to control the spiraling prices in shops and supermarkets, as the prices drastically differ from one shop to another in the same town.”
Mohammed Abou Haidar, director-general at the Ministry of Economy, joined officials from the Consumer Protection Service and members of state security on visits to supermarkets in Beirut to check prices amid the food security crisis and arrest sellers found to be acting improperly.
Abou Haidar said: “The dollar rate decreased from 33,000 Lebanese pounds to about 20,000 and a price drop should have followed. However, we note obvious irregularities in the prices displayed. We tell everyone that the situation is no longer sustainable and that is unacceptable.”
Amid the chaos on Wednesday, a loud explosion shook the coastline at Keserwan to the south of Beirut. It appeared to have been caused by an Israeli aircraft breaking the sound barrier.
