Sun, May 03, 2020 page4

• Virus Outbreak: Yemen’s qat markets flourish despite virus threat

  • AFP, SANA’A
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  While many of the world’s markets have closed to curb the spread of coronavirus, in Yemen’s capital Sana’a, downtown districts selling qat — the ubiquitous mild narcotic — still bustle with people.

  Flouting social distancing rules, Yemenis jostle to select bunches of the chewable leaf from vendors packed into the narrow lanes crowded with stalls.

  “If the qat markets were closed, believe me when I say that 98 percent of Yemeni people would object,” said Sana’a resident Ali al-Zubeiry, who is an avid consumer.

  

  A Yemeni man buys qat at a market in the capital, Sana’a, on Friday.

  Photo: AFP

  “We appeal to the authorities not to close the qat markets because Yemenis live off it,” he said, adding that it would probably be a good idea to move them to a more open space.

  Yemen, mired in civil war since 2014 and long the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest nation, is a major producer and consumer of qat, which is banned in some countries, but has been part of Yemen’s social fabric for thousands of years.

  The country was once best known for its coffee industry, but the easy profits from qat meant it eclipsed that trade and spread into other agricultural lands — around the Red Sea and in African countries such as Ethiopia and Somalia where it also flourishes.

  A wad of the leaves is packed into the cheek and slowly chewed. The WHO estimates that 90 percent of adult males in Yemen partake for several hours a day, with some women and children also adopting the habit.

  Policemen can be seen on the streets chewing the green plant, stashed in plastic bags next to them while they carry out their duties.

  “The chewing of qat leaves releases chemicals structurally related to amphetamines, which give the chewer a mild high that some say is comparable to drinking strong coffee,” according to the WHO.

  Qat sellers in Sana’a, the northern capital that is controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, continue to display bags of their product to customers in the markets, transacting without precautionary measures such as masks or gloves.

  Yemen has been largely spared the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a total of seven cases recorded so far, but the country on Wednesday announced its first two deaths from the respiratory disease.

  The UN has warned that six years of war — pitting the Houthis against the government and their backers led by Saudi Arabia — has left the health system in tatters, and a major outbreak would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe.

  The insurgents, who control much of the north including Sana’a, have suspended schools and flights to ward off the pandemic but so far have been unable to shut down the qat markets.

  Many Yemenis resorted to selling qat after the war broke out and their salaries dried up.

  Ahmed Saleh, a public school teacher who has not been paid in four years, said that selling qat is his “main source of income.”

  “Closing the markets because of the coronavirus will lead to starvation,” he said. “Many people depend on the buying and selling of qat.”

  Muthir al-Marouni, director-general of the insurgent-run health department in Sana’a, said that he expects the markets to close soon because they “could become a major source for the spread of the virus.”

  “People’s lives are more important than the markets,” he said.

  However, he said that such a decision would be hard to enforce considering how many people depend on the trade.

  “The decision must be carefully studied and a solution found ... to ensure people can continue to live,” Marouni said.

  While many people continue to shop at crowded qat markets, others in Sana’a have opted for home delivery to fuel hours-long sessions with family and friends.

  “After the spread of the coronavirus, many are scared to go to the market and have asked that their qat be delivered to their homes,” seller Ghaleb al-Huseimy said. “They have one condition — that I be the only one that touches the product.”

  Omar al-Abi is one customer who has opted for the delivery service because of fears of catching the virus.

  “Qat could become a primary reason for the fast spread of the virus because the markets are extremely crowded,” he said. “More than 50 people could have touched one bag.”
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