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October 17, 2006
In
a meeting held by AMAN in cooperation with the
Palestine Trade Center PALTRADE to identify the
impact of the general employee strike at the
government sector on the private sector and to
propose different options for bypassing the
current crises in a way that ensures the
fulfillment of the rights of all parties,
participants from the union of government
employees, the private sector, businesspersons,
and economists recommended the composition of a
national commission that includes all parties to
meet urgently and to draw a national emergency
plan to solve the crisis. Dr. Azmi Shuaibi,
General Coordinator, AMAN Coalition confirmed
that the Palestinian society lives in a state of
worry and despair as a result of the strike that
negatively affected all sectors particularly the
private sector which is considered the main
working place for Palestinian employers and
warned that the continuation of the strike will
lead to severe deterioration in the Palestinian
society which already suffers tremendously from
the Israeli enforced measures.
Dr. Sa’d Al-Khateeb,
Director of Commercial Policy Department at
PALTRADE, pointed out that one of the major
problems that troubles the private sector at the
moment is its inability to market its products
inside Israel due to the unavailability of the
Palestinian autonomia invoice. In the same
token, exports to Arab countries are frozen due
to the unavailability of authentication of
certificate of origin from the Ministry of
National Economy which leads to a state of
economic depression that might lead to total
collapse.
On the other hand,
Mr. Bassam Zakarneh, Head of the Union of
Government Employees, spoke of the harsh
conditions that the government employees suffer
from, he also pointed out that the Union had
done its best to solve this crisis yet to no
avail. However, he stated that the Union is
ready to work with all sectors to solve this
crisis that face all Palestinians. He also
admitted the huge responsibility that the Union
holds.
Mr. Mohammad
Masrouji, Head of the Palestinian Association of
Businesspersons, said that the fact that
employees at the government sector were not paid
their salaries had led to the strike which now
constitutes a national crisis. It’s the role of
all parties particularly the private sector to
cooperate to find solutions to this problem
through setting up a unified national plan by
all sectors (public, private, civil society, and
government) that would hopefully lead to the
termination of this crisis. He also added that
the continuation of the strike with no clear
solutions will lead to complete devastation of
the Palestinian society. Mr. Samir Hulleileh,
Director General of Portland Trust, stressed the
importance of participatory work in trying to
find solutions for this problem. He said that
the private sector, the union, and all involved
parties should work together to arrive at a
solution for the current crisis. Work should
focus on developing a common plan with realistic
goals that is easy to implement so as to
eliminate the damage caused by the crisis. Mr.
Majed Ma’ali, Director of Businesspersons
Association, stressed the importance of holding
responsibilities whether on the part of the
presidency or the cabinet through putting a
complimentarily plan that would specify the
roles to be played by the different partners
towards this end. Mr. Sa’eb Bamieh, Economic
Advisor, stressed the importance of responding
positively to the demands of the government
employees that represent their daily rights and
he added that this is a shared responsibility
for all. |
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