Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Damascus, SANA – The People’s Assembly’s Speaker Mohammad Jihad al-Laham said the front defending
Syria has consolidated its position and unified efforts in order to eliminate terrorism.
He was addressing a special Assembly’s session that was attended by Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi and the Cabinet’s members.
Al-Laham hailed the Syrian people’s resilience and the sacrifices and achievements of the Syrian army and armed forces, which he said have forced a state of “retreat” within the enemies’ ranks.
This change, he said, makes it necessary that the Syrian government and the People’s Assembly double efforts to strengthen the capabilities of the Syrian people and army to continue to resist.
Al-Laham noted that the humanitarian issue of the flow of Syrian refugees into Europe has resulted from the support provided by the West and some Arab and regional regimes to the takfiri and terrorist forces, referring to the UN withdrawal from financing the relief operations of those immigrants in neighboring countries.
He expressed his thanks to Russia and its President Vladimir Putin for their supportive position towards Syria, thanking also Iran, the BRICs countries and all of Syria’s friends who are supporting it in the face of terrorism and the attempts of some western countries to impose their dominance on the region.
In turn, Premier al-Halaqi affirmed that the government is committed to securing all the basic needs for the citizens, including food supplies, oil products and other necessary services.
He voiced the government’s commitment to providing all the requirements to consolidate the steadfastness of the armed forces, internal security forces and popular defense groups, reaffirming promised care for the families of the martyrs and injured personnel of those forces.
Al-Halaqi made a reference to the government’s efforts of empowering those families and the citizens through providing income and job-generating projects and grants.
Efforts to achieve more reconciliations on the national level will continue, the Prime Minister stressed, adding that in parallel, work to provide relief and humanitarian assistance to the needy and terrorism-affected people will continue, particularly to the people in Deir Ezzor province and the areas of al-Fouaa, Kefraya in Idleb province and Nubul al-Zahraa in Aleppo province.
As far as the reconstruction efforts are concerned, al-Halaqi said work is in progress in terms of implementing the legislative decree no. 66 for 2012, noting that work has already started in some organizational and planning projects in al-Razi area in Damascus and in Baba Amr, al-Sultaniyeh and Jobar neighborhoods in Homs city.
The Premier also added that the government is working hard and putting every effort to stop the ongoing drop in the value of the Syrian Pound (SYP) against the US dollar and other foreign currency. The efforts include continuing injecting foreign currency and selling it to the public and private exchange institutions, in addition to funding the necessary imports, he added.
For their part, Assembly members raised issues related to delivering aid to the villages of Kefraya and al-Foua’a which are besieged by terrorists in Idleb province, salary issues for state employees in certain areas, dispensing compensation to citizens affected by terrorism, ATMs, electric power, higher education, education, and health services.
They also called for supporting and bolstering the public sector to assume its role in strengthening national economy, combating corruption in all its forms, rehabilitating the infrastructure in certain areas, building housing projects, securing raw materials for industrial production.
The members also called for taking steps to help the people of the terrorism-beseiged towns of Nubbul and al-Zahra, and to alleviate the suffering of the people of Aleppo city caused by recurring terrorist attacks, in addition to supporting the people of Deir Ezzor city.
They also lauded Russia’s political and military efforts exerted in the fields of counter-terrorism and seeking a political solution for the crisis in Syria.
Addressing some of the Assembly members’ questions, Premier al-Halaqi said that the government is committed to social support, as spending in this sector has increased to SYP 1,053 billion in the 2016 state general budget.
He also detailed some of the steps taken to provide drinking water and electricity to Aleppo, and asserted that the government is still providing compensation for citizens affected by terrorism, with up to SYP 26 billion already being dispensed to citizens.
Al-Halaqi also affirmed that the government is working hard to deliver aid to Kefraya, al-Foua’a, and Deir Ezzor.
Manar al-Frieh/H. Said / Hazem Sabbagh
