'Over Our Dead Bodies', Tenants Say about New Rent Law
Tenants of old rent law buildings on Wednesday renewed their rejection of the new rent law that has been recently passed by parliament, vowing that they will stay in their homes and demanding amendments to what they described as the “black law.”
“This black law will not pass except over our dead bodies. This is a displacement law,” tenants' spokesman Castro Abdullah said at a sit-in in Hamra Street in Beirut, which was briefly blocked by the protesters.
“Had the law been fair, it would not have faced three challenges,” he added, referring to appeals filed before the Constitutional Council.
Abdullah vowed: “No one will be able to kick us out of our homes, neither on December 28 nor in 400 million years.”
“We urge the public prosecution to act, as we have rights and we're not occupiers,” he stressed.
Noting that the tenants “will remain on the streets if needed,” the spokesman called on Speaker Nabih Berri to “amend the law in line with the memo sent by the tenants' national follow-up committee.”
The the controversial rent law was passed by parliament in April and it calls for an increase in rents over a six-year period until they reach 5 percent of their current value.
The old rent law pertains to rent contracts carried out before 1993.
Tenants of old rent law buildings have slammed the draft law, saying that it will force many of them to leave their houses because they would not be able to afford the new rent.
The owners of the buildings, on the other hand, say that the law paves the way for better ties with tenants.
Y.R.
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