The Landlords' Syndicate issued a statement providing examples of old rental rates for non-residential units, stating: "While traders sell in cash dollars or at the prevailing exchange rate in the parallel market, we present to the public a sample of rental rates in non-residential units, and we are ready to provide media outlets and citizens with the addresses of these institutions." It questioned: "How does a landlord survive with such rental rates, earning one or two or three dollars monthly? What conscience allows for such rates? Can a trader or the president of the Beirut Traders Association live on these sums? Would they accept such terms for themselves if they were landlords?"
The syndicate explained that they are presenting these rates not to defame, God forbid, but to clarify and present the realities to the public, and they are prepared to publish the names and addresses of the institutions. Here are some examples: a two-door shop in Mansourieh rented for $30 a year, or $2.5 a month; a furniture gallery in Sidon rented for 6,600,000 Lebanese pounds a year or $58; a restaurant in Jbeil Port with an annual rent of $43 or the price of a meal; a curtain shop in Beirut with an annual rent of $100; a plumbing supply store in Beirut with an annual rent of 1.5 million Lebanese pounds; a household goods store in Zahle for $24 a year; and an electrical repair shop in Zahle for $5 a year.
The syndicate continued: "This is just a sample, and we will publish more information about large institutions and schools with symbolic rent, as well as addresses of official institutions under old leases." It asked: "Can a citizen bear the cost of renting official institutions for free? Knowing that this reality has persisted for 40 years until today. This question is directed at the caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the MPs and ministers who claim to defend the citizen while daily sacrificing the old landlord."
