Truck Drivers Strike Causes Heavy Traffic in Several Areas

Traffic came to a standstill at Beirut's entrances and several other areas during the Monday morning rush-hour after the owners of trucks held a strike to protest the strict schedule imposed on them.

The head of the syndicate of owners and drivers of trucks, Shafiq al-Qassis, said that the strike is peaceful and only aims at changing the schedule of the trucks.

“We won't resort to blocking roads,” he told a radio station.

Security forces asked the drivers to park the trucks on one lane to east traffic.

But the owners of trucks suspended their strike upon the request of caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel.

They will meet him on Monday afternoon.

“I was surprised by what happened at Beirut's entrances and asked the director-general of the Internal Security Forces to inform the owners of trucks about a meeting that I will hold with them at 2:00 pm,” Charbel said.

They announced on Friday that they would hold the strike until 11:00 am in the areas of Dora, Sawfar, Ouzai, Shwaifat and al-Awwali bridge.

They said the last decision made by the authorities was to stop all Lebanese trucks from transporting goods between 6:30 am and 9:30 am and between 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm.

But “we were surprised when tankers were allowed to operate full-time in the mornings until 4:00 pm and for the trucks of Beirut Port to be always on the road,” the statement said.

It said that the measures imposed on the trucks force the drivers to go above the speed limit, which would give them a speed ticket of LL500,000 and cause financial losses.