For the eighth year in a row, Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) comes, while more than a million employees are deprived of their salaries, which means that the joy associated with the festivity is absent from the homes of Sana'a people and of most Yemenis, with the exception of the Houthi militant group’s senior militants (security supervisors) who have engaged in tax collection, looting, and stealing of the people's money, dreams, joy, and happiness.
A headmaster of a public school in Sana'a sheds tears of pain and poverty as feast draws nearer, while he is unable to bring joy to his home, and make a smile on the faces of his children.
He tells "Al-Sahwa Net", "There is not much left for Eid, and until now I have not been able to buy anything for my children... I could not because of my financial situation and the high prices."
Speaking on the condition of anonymity for security reasons, he says that "in the past, I used to buy clothes for them two months before Eid, but now I cannot, and the reason is that salaries are not paid by (the Houthi militia), in addition to the lack of sources of income and the high prices." The government employee confirms that "suffering and poverty have dwelled in the homes of all Yemenis and did not exclude anyone except the Houthi leaders and their families.
" He wonders, "If this is the case of a school headmaster, then how about the teachers, employees, and simple citizens?!". Low turnout In Sana'a, the capital hijacked by the militias, business activity in the markets appears to be less than on normal days, while some markets appear to be almost empty of customers, and the owners of shops and clothing galleries complain of low turnout due to the state of poverty that afflicts the lives of citizens, and the high prices due to the high levies and taxes. The shops on Jamal and Hael Street, which are known to be the busiest, especially before the holidays, appear almost empty, with rare movement at peak times.
Umm Ziyad recalls how the two streets were crowded with shoppers, before the coup of the Houthi militia and its invasion of the capital, Sana'a, in late 2014, and its practice of starvation and impoverishment, including cutting employee salaries and targeting the private sector, which negatively affected the purchasing power of citizens, and made the markets almost empty or there was very little movement in them.
The mother told "Al-Sahwa Net" that affording the Eid requirements has become impossible these days as a result of the halt in the payment of salaries and the madly high prices.
Umm Ziyad adds, "Yemen has gone into the unknown since the Houthis seized power in Sana'a," noting that the future does not bode well if the deterioration continues in this manner and speed, describing the situation this year as "more severe than before," adding: "Perhaps Next year we will starve to death.
" The housewife confirms, "The most difficult thing in life is the inability of the father or mother to afford the requirements of their children, especially on occasions that children eagerly await, such as Eid feast," explaining that "purchasing Eid requirements costs about 200,000 riyals at least, and most families do not have a quarter of that amount.