Ovens in Lebanon have turned into wrestling arenas, from arguing about the priority of obtaining a bundle of bread to entanglement of hands and beating with sticks and stones, until it came to shooting, leaving a number of wounded while trying to buy a bundle of bread, without being able to even obtain a bundle of bread. one loaf
The horrific scenes moving from one oven to another, prompted the unions of bakeries and ovens to demand “the need to secure security protection for the ovens that are working and witness queues in front of them, which exposes them to problems with the crowd, in order to prevent clashes,” warning in a statement that it “will not continue to work amid chaos and queues.” Which prevents it from carrying out its role without problems in this delicate period that the country is going through.”
Traffic congestion in the streets where the bakeries are still open, as a result of queues that extend for tens of meters, where the “customer” is forced to wait for hours in order to get one bundle of bread if he is able to do so, and as usual in Lebanon, a black market soon appeared, A bundle of 820 grams of bread is sold at a price ranging from 25,000 to 30,000 pounds, instead of 13,000 pounds as set by the Ministry of Economy.
The queues hardly disappear in front of the bakeries until they reappear, without the Lebanese knowing the main reason behind the shortage of bread. And the most beneficiaries of the funds allocated to subsidize the flour.
mobile problems
The assurances of the Minister of Economy in the caretaker government, Amin Salam, that there are sufficient quantities of flour and wheat, are not translated on the ground, but on the contrary daily the situation worsens and more bakeries are closed.
The repeated problems made a number of citizens prefer to eat their food without bread so as not to expose themselves to the risk of being hit by a stick, a stone, or even a gunshot, especially since the videos circulating raise terror, including the problem that occurred on Sunday in the town of Meksa in the Bekaa, between the Arabs of Qab Elias and the Syrian refugees, according to Mayor Atef Al-Mays.
For the sake of bread, a number of wounded fell, as Al-Mays told Al-Hurra website, and the glass facades and part of the contents of the oven were smashed. Al-Mays “what is happening is caused by the lack of bread in large quantities, and the failure to deliver it to shops, in addition to the closure of a number of bakeries’ doors, all of which leads to pressure on the bakeries that are still working.”
A video clip was also circulated of young men who broke into Musa’s bakeries, in the town of Taalbaya in the Bekaa, and threw their products on the ground.
And in a call made by Al-Hurra website to the bakery, it was confirmed that the video was taken two days ago, and the cause of the problem was “the anger of the young people about the lack of Arabic bread that we have, while cakes and sweets are available, and despite we explained to them that the flour that goes into making Arabic bread is subsidized and different from the extra flour. Which we buy with US dollars, but they insisted on storming the bakery and caused losses, as it appeared in the video.”
A while ago, a problem occurred in front of the “Al-Ridani” bakeries in Al-Badawi, northern Lebanon, and there was a shooting spree, which led to the death of three people, and the tense atmosphere prompted the owner of the bakery to close its doors.
The Minya area witnessed problems in front of one of the bakeries, where a number of young men waiting in the queues quarreled, which prompted the owner of the bakery to close it for a short time, after which he resumed selling, and the bakery belonging to the head of the Syndicate of Bread Makers in Lebanon, Antoine Seif, was not spared from problems, as he witnessed last Monday A conflict between customers inside the sales hall in Kesrouan.
In an interview with Al-Hurra, Seif expressed his fear that the clashes would develop, especially as he said, “Last Sunday, there was a dispute in front of a bakery in Beirut, where some young men threatened to shoot.” Those concerned must resolve the situation as soon as possible, and until then, the ovens must be protected.”
The main problem, says Seif, is the closure of a number of mills due to the lack of wheat, and he explains, “The ships arrived, but the Banque du Liban did not transfer funds abroad to pay for the wheat, and the strike of public sector employees, including employees of the Ministry of Agriculture, prevents any action from taking place. The necessary laboratory tests on wheat to release the ships.
However, the Minister of Agriculture in the caretaker government, Abbas Al-Hajj Hassan, denied that there was a delay in the examinations that are carried out on wheat, stressing that “for ten days we have been keen that the laboratory process does not exceed a maximum period of four days, as we work with more than fast capacity, but we cannot Shortening the duration more than that, because in the end there is a global protocol that must be adhered to,” adding, “Despite the strike of public administration employees, the Ministry of Agriculture employees are still carrying out their tasks and continue to do so.”
Haj Hassan stressed in his speech to the “Free” website, “We are trying as much as possible to release the wheat ships, and next week three of them are supposed to be released,” expressing his hope that “this crisis will end through the permanence and continuity of this sector, as wheat cultivation eases a lot of burdens, with There should be monitoring, accountability and accountability for all.”
Accusations that promote violence
Today, Tuesday, the Minister of Economy confirmed that “if a decision is taken to lift the subsidy, the price of a bundle of bread will range between 30 thousand and 35 thousand Lebanese pounds,” and a few days ago he revealed that “the agreement with the World Bank provides for the lifting of subsidies on flour, and that this step will be taken after nine days. months, where poor families will be able to obtain bread through financing cards.”
Regarding the current crisis, Salam indicated that 50,000 tons of wheat will enter Lebanon within ten days, which is sufficient for a month and a half and will be subject to the Ministry of Agriculture’s examinations, “and production must be expedited so that a crisis does not occur in the country,” noting that “a committee has been formed.” Managed by the Ministry of Economy to regulate the arrival of wheat to the port and then to the mills, and with the help of all agencies to follow up the arrival of wheat to the bakeries.
And Salam considered last month that what is happening is a “serious war on the issue of food security globally, and war and looting and looting on the issue of food security locally, and here I am talking about crisis traders who are always present to exploit difficult circumstances. Fraud and exploitation of public money.
After Salam was accusing merchants of monopolizing flour, Lebanese officials launched a campaign against the Syrian refugees, accusing them of being behind the crisis. The Minister of Economy reiterated that “400,000 bundles of bread go daily to the displaced and that they are the beneficiaries of the support,” which was emphasized by the Minister of Affairs. The social worker in the caretaker government, Hector Hajjar, said, “Lebanon supports the displaced Syrians with nine million dollars a month for the price of bread, in addition to the electricity and water service that they were receiving for free.”
The Minister of the Displaced in the caretaker government, Issam Sharaf El-Din, participated in the campaign “The Syrian Eats Lebanese Bread”, where he pointed out in his interviews in recent weeks under the title “Plan for the Return of the Displaced” that “one and a half million displaced Syrians need 500,000 bundles of bread daily. “.
There is no doubt that holding the Syrian refugee at least part of the responsibility for the bread crisis plays a role in the scenes of violence that take place in front of the bakeries, although sometimes problems arise between Lebanese and Syrians, and sometimes between the Lebanese themselves, as well as between Syrians, and between customers and owners of the bakeries.
Regarding the outcry of the bakeries and bakeries unions in Lebanon, Tariq Al-Mir, head of the Syndicate of Owners of Ovens in Tripoli and the North commented, in an interview with Al-Hurra website, by saying, “It is natural that we ask for security protection to organize the queues, and we have contacted the security forces several times, as they responded responsively and conducted patrols, and we know The soldier does not have to stand all day at the oven door.”
For its part, the security forces confirmed to Al-Hurra that they are doing their part to preserve and tyrannize security, stressing the “necessity that bakeries organize queues and reject any mediation to obtain bread, in order to prevent any problems from occurring.”
Appeals to end the suffering
The bread crisis is old and renewed in Lebanon, exacerbated by the damage to the granaries, which can accommodate 120,000 tons of wheat, as a result of the explosion of the Beirut port. The situation was exacerbated by the Russian war on Ukraine, which supplies Lebanon with most of its wheat imports.
Al-Mir replied that the cause of the current crisis was the lack of flour, “as a result of the Governor of the Banque du Liban opening credits to wheat ships, which led to the closure of nine mills out of 12 mills,” stressing the need to secure the poor’s meal, “but unfortunately the situation is getting worse.” The crisis prompted the head of a syndicate Arab Bakeries in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, Ali Ibrahim, to resign from his position, after refusing, he says, to be a false witness to what is happening in this sector.
He said in a statement: “After the recurring crises in the loaf industry sector escalated, and bakery and oven owners were held responsible for these crises that led to the humiliation of people in front of bakeries that need flour to secure a loaf of bread, I cannot be a false witness to what is happening in this sector, in At a time when I can no longer do anything to protect the honorable bakery owners who bear the brunt of these crises, in the absence of any logical solution that preserves the rights of everyone.”
To put an end to the tragedy, the unions of bakeries and bakeries in Lebanon stressed the need to organize this sector and provide wheat to all mills so that flour is naturally supplied to all bakeries, “because the suspension of one mill may affect the quantities of flour,” and hoped that there would be justice in the distribution of flour. Flour is placed on the bakeries in a way that secures their work to end the queues of humiliation in front of them “for reasons that the bakeries are not responsible for, but because of the lack of quantities of flour delivered to them in all Lebanese governorates during the months of last June and this July.”
She pointed to the need for bakeries to increase their production rate “to match the growing demand as a result of the presence of more than 700,000 tourists on the one hand, and to increase the demand for Arabic bread due to the high price of French bread and its derivatives after lifting the subsidy for flour designated for its manufacture on the other hand,” stressing that “the owners of The bakeries are suffering from the difficulty of working under the current circumstances and the citizens flock to the doors of the bakeries, and the time has come for this suffering to end, whether it is for the citizen or the owner of the bakery.”