Premier al-Halqi: Syria Paying for Its Stances… Government Working to Bolster Steadfastness of Syrian People and Achieve Security

Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi on Tuesday affirmed that the government will continue implementing its statement made in 22/7/2012 despite the challenges and difficulties, affirming that Syria is facing a universal political, economic and media conspiracy.

In his speech addressing the People’s Assembly, Premier al-Halqi confirmed that Arab, regional and western states are providing huge support to terrorists with the aim of undermining Syria and its people.

Syria is paying for its stances and there are parties that do not want the country to go in the reform track,” he said, adding that the Syrian diplomacy has achieved a great success in the UN General Assembly, unmasking the enormity of the conspiracy hatched against Syria.

Al-Halqi said that the government’s priority is fighting terrorism, lauding the efforts made by the Syrian Arab Army to confront terrorism.

He stressed that the Syrian Arab Army is the sole guarantor of the security and territorial integrity of the homeland, affirming the government’s full support to the Army in the framework of encountering terrorism, the terrorists and those backing them.

The Prime Minister noted that the government is working in parallel with combating terrorism to support the national reconciliation project, saying that holding two opposition conferences in Syria during the past weak constitute an achievement and an invitation to all who want to be involved in the political process and preserve Syria’s security and stability.

He added that holding the two conferences also proved the government’s credibility in allowing all initiatives and suggestions that benefit the country, affirming that the government is open to all conferences in order to reach the desired grand national dialogue conference.

Al-Halqi affirmed that the government is working to provide all the means for ensuring the steadfastness of the Syrian people, and that it gives special interest to the services and economy sectors which face great difficulties and challenges in light of the increasing attack by terrorists against the infrastructure and many sectors.

The Prime Minister said that during the last two weeks, the sector that was targeted the most by terrorists was the electricity sector, yet despite that electricity deficiency didn’t exceed 10-15%.

He also underlined the difficulties facing the petroleum sector, affirming that the government is working hard to provide citizens’ needs in terms of fuel and taking new steps to export oil and import petroleum products.

He referred to the government’s annual subsidies to the diesel which amounted to SYP 300 billion and to the electricity sector which reached SYP 320 billion, referring to the cost of maintenance to oil sector which exceeded SYP 6 billion, while the damages caused to oil exporting sector in 2012 reached SYP 245 billion.

Premier al-Halqi said the sector health is one of the most important service sectors targeted by the terrorist groups, noting that 19 hospitals are now out of service, in addition to 275 health centers which were subject to acts of theft, burning and looting.

He however assured that the health sector is stable with 124 hospitals and 1921 health centers all across the provinces are providing services optimally.

On the medicine sector, al-Halqi stressed that 93 percent of medicine production takes place at national factories, which were partially affected by the terrorist groups’ acts particularly in Aleppo.

He affirmed that the Health and Economy ministries are cooperating to secure the imported drugs, particularly those for chronic and tumor diseases.

The Prime Minister highlighted the grave damages that happened to railways in Syria due to the terrorist operations, indicating the large turnout to local air transport which reached 275 percent, compared to the noticeable decrease in foreign flights as a result of the embargo imposed the Syrian Arab Airlines.

He added that the ports’ movement is running almost normally.

Al-Halqi said that the government’s efforts for aiding the affected families who left their houses are ongoing, as 671 thousand families were displaced because of the criminality of terrorists, pointing out that it is coordinating with international organizations to support these families as it is attempting to enabling them to return to their houses.

He highlighted that the government has initially allocated a SYP 1 billion to the project of securing the families affected due to terrorist acts.

He also stressed that the unilateral U.S. and EU and Arab sanctions have affected the banking, tourism and transport sectors.

The Prime Minister said damages estimated at SYP 155 billion caused to various sectors, in addition to those caused to public and private facilities exceeding SYP 2000 billion so far.

Al-Halqi stressed that Syria has what it needs to stand steadfast in the face of the conspiracy since the strategic storage of wheat covers our needs for about two years.

He added that some parties had doubts regarding the Syrian government’s ability to open schools and launch the new school year on time which really happened, indicating that the situation is reassuring except for some areas where there are still some security challenges.

Premier al-Halqi said that due to the awareness of people in the terrorism-affected areas and their cooperation with authorities, we can notice a change in the viewpoint of the international community regarding events in Syria.

He stressed that Syria will go on to fulfill the aspirations of the Syrian people and eliminate terrorists to achieve the security of the homeland and the citizens.

Al-Halqi added that the government is open to all political initiatives based on the principle of national sovereignty, rejection of foreign intervention, the halt of violence and launching a political process that leads to national dialogue within a pluralist and democratic framework.