For the 6th year, Yemenis never Know the Holiday

By Rashid Haddad - Al-Akhbar Newspaper

Translated by al-Ahed Staff

The Yemeni capital, Sanaa, welcomed Eid Al-Adha this year, with a stagnation that dominated both the popular and modern markets.

This comes as most of the streets are almost empty of cars and pedestrians due the lack of oil derivatives. The crisis has begun since a month and a half, when the aggressive [Saudi] coalition arrested 17 ships loaded with more than 320 thousand tons of gasoline and diesel.

And it is not the only fuel crisis that the Yemenis are suffering this holiday.

According to the latest United Nations report, as the aggression and the blockade continue for the 6th year on a country where more than 20 million are under the poverty line, many are struggling to provide basic life necessities, in light of the rise in food prices by 15.

It is a hike that the sacrifices [sheep] were not far from. Its prices in local markets - just days before the holiday - increased by 50% compared with last year.

In an attempt to alleviate the suffering, Sanaa authorities announced the disbursement of half salary for state employees, in an attempt to bypass the pressure exerted by the United Nations to end this process, which is funded by Al-Hudaydah’s Central Bank branch.

Meanwhile, the matter is still a dispute between The Rescue Government and the Government of the Outgoing President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

During the past few days, the Finance Ministry in Sanaa withdraw more than 8 billion riyals from the aforementioned account and disbursed it as half salary, which was met with more international dissatisfaction.

An official source in "The Rescue Gov’t" denounced the pressure exerted by the international sides on the government. In parallel, he revealed that the "Supreme Political Council" received UN offers to halt the half salary payment in exchange for the release of the seized fuel shipments. This was rejected by the Council President, Mahdi Al-Mashat. The government called on the United Nations to supervise the disbursement process, calling on it to work hard to stop the employees suffering. It further accused the UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths’ office of failing to resolve this file two years ago despite the concessions made by Sanaa leadership. Moreover, the "The Rescue Gov’t" renewed its willingness to pay the salaries of all state employees according to the statements of 2014 if the problem of oil and gas revenues, taxes and customs, which are supplied to the Hadi government account, is addressed.

Sanaa, along with it the governorates under the control of “the Rescue”, suffers from a crisis in gas supplies as well, due to the custody of a tribal sector, with coverage from the Hadi government, the trailers coming from the Safer facility, in the Juba region between the governorates of Maarib and Al Bayda.

Meanwhile, the damage caused by the floods in the past days worsens the situation, especially in Al-Hudaydah and Hajjah governorates. According to local sources, more than a thousand poor families in the countryside of Al-Hudaydah were affected by the torrents, which destroyed dozens of homes and buried others, and washed away their farms and thousands of sheep, as well as the IDP camps in the Abas region in Hajjah Governorate. Because of the severe damages, dozens of activists launched a call to implement a popular relief campaign for coastal residents in the two provinces.