Gas Station Owners Suspend Strike

W460

Owners of gas stations in Lebanon suspended a one-day strike on Saturday that paralyzed the country and drove angry Lebanese to block in protest the highways with their vehicles creating traffic jams.

Sami Brax, the head of the Syndicates of Gas Station Owners, announced the “suspension of the strike after holding contacts with the Energy Ministry,” said LBCI.

On Thursday, gas stations began an open-ended strike as owners are demanding that they be allowed to hike prices saying they are losing money because of the shortage of dollars in the market.

The price of the dollar has dropped 40 percent on the black market after it was stable at 1,507 pounds to the dollar since 1997.

In Beirut and several areas across the country, motorists parked their cars in the middle of the road, saying they ran out of petrol. In other areas angry protesters blocked roads to express their anger against closure of gas stations.

The strike came as the nation grapples with nationwide protests that began Oct. 17 over widespread corruption and mismanagement.

The protests have worsened Lebanon’s worst economic and financial crises since the 1975-90 civil war ended, as did the resignation of the government late last month.

Although PM Saad Hariri resigned his government on Oct. 29, President Michel Aoun has not yet set a date for binding consultations with heads of parliamentary blocs to name a new premier.

The protests were initially sparked by new taxes but quickly evolved into calls for the entire political elite to step aside.

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