Protesters gathered at the municipality in Halba on Jan. 11, 2022. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT – Protests erupted in various areas across Lebanon Tuesday as the local currency’s value plummeted and the cost of fuel increased, L’Orient Today’s correspondents reported.
Here’s what we know:
• Protesters gathered at the Halba municipality in Akkar to decry poor living conditions, the depreciation of the Lebanese lira and their purchasing power, calling for “the right to electricity and all the components of life to be as available in Akkar as in other Lebanese towns,” L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the area reported.
• The protesters in Halba also spoke out against corruption, opposing the allegedly politically motivated transfer of an employee to the area, ignoring the “local availability of competent people,” our correspondent added. After meeting with the protesters, Akkar’s Governor Imad Labaki said that “the area’s deputies, the head of the Akkar Endowment Committee, Malek Jdeideh, and Lebanese Army officers were negotiating the matter with the Interior Minister.”
• Similarly, public transport drivers in Saida blocked the road to Nejmeh Square in protest of rising fuel costs, which increased again this morning, L’Orient Today’s correspondent in Saida reported.
• Twenty liters of gasoline and diesel fuel now cost nearly LL400,000 respectively. The lira’s continuous plummet, sliding today to an all-time low of LL33,000 to the US dollar on the parallel market, will likely only add to the rising fuel costs and the decrease in purchasing power mentioned by the protesters.