For the Second Day, El Mina Municipality Workers Lock Municipal Palace

El Mina municipality workers kept the municipal palace locked and prevented employees from entering for the second consecutive day, protesting the deduction of financial amounts allocated to municipalities.

During a morning sit-in, attended by Shadi Al-Sayed, head of the Federation of North Lebanon Employees' Unions, Al-Sayed affirmed that "this movement will continue until the error is corrected regarding the reversal of the decision to disburse meager dues to the municipalities."

He said: "We held a meeting with the Governor of North Lebanon, Imman Rafei, who in turn contacted the Minister of Interior in an attempt to issue a new decision that strips municipalities of their rights."

He demanded "the payment of cellular dues to the municipalities at this time because it is a very urgent need."

He also called on "the government to allocate amounts from the Port of Tripoli to the El Mina Municipality and to the Al-Fayhaa Union of Municipalities, as they are suffering from a crisis situation and workers need salaries and other dues," stressing that "these salaries are the responsibility of the Lebanese state, which must work to pay them."

He confirmed "adherence to the movement for the sake of workers and employees until they obtain their rights, as they are suffering from a catastrophic situation. Here, it may be worth noting the intervention of the Supreme Relief Committee and relief institutions throughout the state to assist and equip institutions."

For his part, the head of the El Mina Municipality Workers' Union, Ahmed Al-Marabi, affirmed "continuing the movement until all demands are met." He pointed out that contacts were made during the past 24 hours involving the Mayor Abdullah Kabbara, the union, the Governor of North Lebanon, and the Minister of Interior, with a trend towards restoring decisions and amounts from which funds were deducted for "La Vague" or others.

He said: "We are awaiting the results of these contacts, while adhering to the movement until full demands are achieved."