Before the economic crisis, prisoners often complained about the poor quality of the meals provided by prison administrations (averaging two meals a day). This was compounded by a reduction in the quantity of meals and fruits, leading to most prisoners receiving only one loaf of bread and 100 grams of labneh or jam daily, and sometimes half a piece of fruit, with a "complete absence" of meat and chicken, according to the inmates. Contractors insist that they deliver the agreed-upon quantities of meat and chicken to central prisons: 500 grams of meat and 300 grams of chicken weekly, divided according to the nutritional system outlined in the law. Previously, prisoners tried to substitute these meals by purchasing their needs from the prison store and cooking their meals themselves. However, many can no longer afford this due to the sharp increase in food prices. Prisoners state that they need at least 1.5 million Lebanese pounds weekly for food and cigarettes, forcing them to rely solely on prison meals, which are inadequate and often inedible.
This situation may soon become unavailable, as "Al-Akhbar" learned that the seven contractors supplying food, meat, vegetables, and fruits to central prison administrations and pre-prepared meals for regional prisons will completely cease deliveries starting October 1st. This will lead to a significant crisis, as most prisoners will be unable to buy food, and families will be prohibited from bringing food to their children in central prisons. Effectively, prisoners will be left without food, while the state, whose sectors are collapsing one after the other, appears incapable of finding a solution.
The contractors are demanding a legal document that protects them from not receiving their payments amid the presidential vacuum. Before the crisis, these contractors received their due payments two to three months after submitting their monthly invoices to the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces to verify the prices of the supplied goods. Over the past months, payments have only been processed after six months and amounting to 10 billion pounds, a small fraction of the amount that reached 90 billion pounds at the end of August. Officials reorganized the disbursement to be divided into amounts, with Finance Minister Youssef Khalil approving 60 billion pounds for the contractors on Tuesday without yet transferring it to the government palace. Recently, a 20 billion-pound fund was referred from the Ministry of Finance to the Prime Minister's office and then to the presidential palace, where the President is expected to have signed it and returned it to the General Directorate of Internal Security for signing before it is sent back to the Finance Ministry to secure the amount from the Central Bank.
Amid this delay, the seven contractors are affected by the rising dollar exchange rate, which reduces their profits, leading them to incur significant losses especially as they purchase goods in dollars and receive payments in pounds after long delays, during which the currency value depreciates due to changes in the black market exchange rate. Adjusting prices does not improve their situation (the state pays the price increase differences presented in the public tender) because of the payment delays currently occurring. Contractors receive funds that were supposed to be disbursed months ago. This has led, for example, to one contractor replacing meat with chicken or vice versa sometimes due to price increases.
Because of their losses, contractors fear the situation will worsen, particularly if a presidential vacuum persists, meaning they will not receive allocations. Complicating matters further, the atmosphere among officials in the Administrative Affairs Department of the Internal Security Forces suggests there will be no tender after the current contract with contractors concludes at the year's end, citing that they "do not yet understand the mechanism and details of the new procurement law." This indicates the possibility of extending contracts with contractors under an agreement allowing the state to extend them for a full year divided into three-month periods without public tender. Therefore, contractors require an extraordinary advance allocation for six months before President Michel Aoun's term ends, to be deposited in the Administrative Affairs Department so they can receive their dues amid the anticipated presidential vacuum.
Thus, the state has less than 20 days to disburse the previous allocations after signing them and to sign a treasury advance for six months covering the remaining three months until the year ends and the three months they are likely to be extended. If this does not happen, they will send a letter to the Directorate at the end of September informing it that they cannot provide food, meat, vegetables, and fruits to prison administrations. The state may not take this threat seriously, indicating that the contractors' cessation of duties is almost inevitable, which would expose more than 6,000 male and female prisoners in central prisons to starvation, except for those able to purchase food, increasing the risk of deaths which have risen in recent months due to medical neglect and lack of medication.
