Tripoli Van Drivers Block Road for 2nd Day over Virus Ban

Drivers of passenger vans on Wednesday blocked the Tripoli-Beirut highway for a second day after the government barred them from operating as part of a two-week coronavirus lockdown.

The National News Agency said the drivers blocked the road in the Palma area twice on Wednesday, after having blocked it on Tuesday.

At Tripoli’s al-Tal Square, drivers staged a sit-in during which a spokesman warned that they might resort to permanent roadblocks to express their grievances.

“The drivers are facing the coronavirus threat and the rulers’ injustice,” he lamented, decrying that unlicensed cars, vans and buses were operating despite the ban.

“The Interior Minister must take action,” he urged, calling for “immediate compensations for the drivers.”

“We are addressing the Social Affairs Ministry, the High Relief Council and the entire government,” the spokesman went on to say.