Damascus - Prime Minister, Dr. Wael al-Halqi said that government is committed to its full duties in subsidizing oil products and the basic materials.
During the opening ceremony of the annual conference of the Doctors Syndicate of Damascus on Sunday, al-Halqi said that ''the government is coping with everyday events to offer an acceptable level of services to citizens amid the war targeting Syria.''
The premier added that the trade unions are the engine of national political life and participation in drawing up strategies, hailing the role of Syria's doctors and their support to the armed forces.
Like the service and economic sectors, the health sector was subject to terrorist attacks against medical institutes and hospitals, not to mention the misleading media which targeted doctors ''but all have came to naught as the Health Ministry confronted vandalism acts, and the doctors and hospitals proved that they are for all political spectrums of the Syrian people.''
The Prime Minister underlined the role of the ministries of health and higher education in tackling the aftermath of the terrorist attacks against civilians as their cadres upheld their noble humanitarian mission and proved to be up to the challenge.
He considered that the national economy was the main target of the global war in the past few weeks as the focus turned on the economic dimension after the homeland's enemies failed in breaking the steadfastness of the Syrian army and insolating Syria internationally.
Premier al-Halqi highlighted the continuous targeting of the Syrian pound and the economic sector through an unfair embargo imposed by Western and Arab states on the Syrians.
The government and the Central Bank have repelled the media aggression on national economy through refuting rumors and relaying the facts amid the current war, the premier said.
Al-Halqi said that Syria has achieved food security since the early 1970s through a strategic stockpile of wheat sufficient for 5 years to come and ''all the past years of dryness notwithstanding, we still have a stockpile sufficient for two years.''
''The government has thwarted a scheme that aimed to stir up a bread and electricity crisis in Damascus province through targeting the electricity sector and mills,'' the premier pointed out.
Al-Halqi said that the bulk of oil fields in Syria were targeted and incapacitated, which prompted the government to import oil derivatives in enormous numbers as ''some continue to blackmail the homeland and citizens,'' affirming that the government is doing everything in its power to deter the manipulators of the citizens' livelihood.
The premier said the government has raised salaries after studying the suffering of citizens due to rising prices, vowing that the move will be followed by other steps to improve the living conditions for citizens as to enhance the steadfastness of the Syrians and the armed forces.
Al-Halqi pointed out that the government is assessing the losses in private properties to compensate for the affected citizens, indicating that SYP 6.2 billion of the overall SYP 30 billion allocated for compensations have been so far disbursed.
Al-Halqi said that the temporary residential centers are receiving 170 thousand citizens where all basic needs are met, adding that around 5 million internally displaced citizens are receiving governmental subsidies.
Al-Halqi added that the government works to ''alleviate the effects of the crisis'' in parallel with work to achieve national reconciliation, as it presses ahead with the national dialogue project through establishing communications with all licensed parties, political forces and civil society.
''The government continues preparations for the national dialogue conference due to be organized on the Syrian soil which does not contradict the international conference due to be held in Geneva,'' the premier affirmed.
He saw that the Muslim Brotherhood project in the region has started to collapse in Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia and Lebanon, affirming Syria's commitment to national firm principles.
Al-Halqi inaugurated the one-window electronic billing service center in the Damascus Doctors' Syndicate branch to facilitate the doctors' documents and measures.
Dr. Hind Shehada, deputy chairman of the Syrian Doctors' Syndicate said that the goal of such conference is to improve the trade union, professional, scientific and social work as to realize the doctors' aspirations.
Head of the Doctors Syndicate of Damascus Branch, Youssef Asaad said the Syrian doctors have proved their capacity to shoulder their responsibilities through their devotion to their work.
© SANA (Syria Arab News Agency) 2013
