HAMA, Syria (North Press) – Ghaith al-Musa (pseudonym), the owner of a marble factory in central Syria’s Hama, was forced to pay three billion Syrian pounds (over $900,000) to protect his facility and family from the government’s customs and government security branches.
He told North Press that a customs patrol found foreign marble in his factory and not only confiscated the goods, but also arrested his son and his workers.
Al-Musa owns a marble factory on the Hama-Homs road, and cuts imported items according to the requests of his customers.
Merchants and industrialists in Hama describe the recent campaign of raids which resulted in fines and arrests as the largest of its kind in the city, as it affected companies, merchants, and owners of capital.
Tension and fear prevail among merchants and industrialists, some of whom are satisfied with closing their facilities, while others prefer to hide.
Billions of pounds
Al-Musa added that he held negotiations with members of the customs and security branches to prevent them from referring his case to the Damascus government, but the authorities demanded that he pay seven billion SYP (over two million dollars) when he requested the release of his son, his workers, and his money.
The merchant was able, after mediation, to reduce the amount to three billion SYP, which he paid to the State Security Branch in Hama.
“The detainees were released and they promised me to release the factory and the money,” he added.
Fayez al-Tabba’a, who is close to the Hama Chamber of Commerce, said that dozens of companies, shops, and warehouses were raided last week in search of foreign goods.
He added that the government imposed billions of pounds on the owners of major companies in addition to arresting their owners and some of their employees.
Tabba’a quoted an unnamed government official who recently supervised a meeting of the Trade Directorate as saying that the state has the right to fill its treasury through merchants and owners of major companies.
He pointed out that this was the result of the recent raids in the city of Hama.
Companies stopped operating
Local merchants say that this is the first time that the current raids include big companies, as they were previously focused on small businesses.
Many company owners, some of which have not yet been affected by the campaign, dismissed their employees and closed the doors of their facilities until the raids and arrests stopped.
Mazen Rawas, a worker at a shoe company in rural Hama, said that the company’s owner dismissed the workers and suspended work in the company until further notice. He added that the company in which he works was raided at midnight on 9/10 September, and all the money that was in it was confiscated due to the presence of materials of foreign origin inside the factory.
Officials of the company were arrested and 50 billion SYP (around $15 million) was requested to stop the arrest of the company’s manager and the seizure of his property.
But the owners of other facilities transferred their goods to hide them, and they themselves hide in the homes of their relatives for fear of arrest.
Sua’ad al-Namra (pseudonym), a girl in the West al-Mashtal neighborhood, said that her merchant brother had to leave with his family for a farm a good distance away after the arrest of his partner, who works in the clothing industry, and the confiscation of his money.
She added that the accusation was the presence of foreign raw materials in the facility, although these materials are commonly used in the clothing industry. So far, the merchant’s partners do not know his fate, as they are still communicating through intermediaries with the security branches to release him in exchange for money.
Shabiha deliver the goods
Merchants accuse the Syrian government of restricting them, stealing their livelihoods, and seeking to mobilize its collapsed treasury at their expense.
Subhi al-Madani (pseudonym), the owner of a ceramics factory in Hama, said that the raids, which did not stop last week, threaten factories that supply goods to the rest of the provinces.
The patrols have the authority to break into warehouses without warrants or permission from the owners, according to al-Madani. He believes that the task of customs lies at the borders and not within the country, as “we obtain these goods from the regular roads, which contain dozens of checkpoints and customs members.”
Al-Madani emptied his facility of imported goods after a number of facilities close to his factory were raided.
He pointed out that “the worst thing is that the government loyalists are the ones who deliver goods coming from the borders to traders. Shabiha cars cross the borders in front of the eyes of customs, but they confiscate them after we buy them.”
“At a time when the Syrian owners of major facilities and factories are honored in Egypt, Turkey, and other neighboring countries, the remaining capital in the country is being pursued on various charges, which prompts them to close their facilities and emigrate,” he added.