Thursday, March 15, 2007

Is the Opposition Committed to Political and Administrative Reforms ?

The answer might be a partial "yes" according to this Daily Star article. According to the Daily Star, Energy Minister Mohammad Fneish of Hizbullah initiated a number of changes to fight off some of the rampant corruption and the resulting waste of public funds within that ministry. Back in 2005 for example, Fneish signed purchasing agreements with both Algeria and Kuwait to supply Lebanon's state-owned electricity company Electricite du Liban (EDL) with oil bypassing the few private local companies who were for years bleeding the government dry by selling oil to EDL at an inflated price. The oil contracts with Algeria and Kuwait resulted in some $70 million savings to the state treasury.




Energy Minister Mohammad Fneish


Fneish also dismantled the semi-autonomous corrupt divisions running the Zahrani and Tripoli oil refineries. The Zahrani oil refinery was built in the 1950s by Aramco and handed over to the Lebanese government in 1983 after the Tapline oil pipeline was shutdown. The Tripoli oil refinery was built in the 1940s by IPC and nationalized by the Lebanese government in 1973 (crude oil pumping through the IPC pipeline was terminated in 1976). The staff at both the Zahrani and Tripoli terminals, now state employees, was reduced to supplying imported oil to state utilities such as EDL and getting rewarded with inflated salaries and lucrative employee benefits (such as state subsidized personal maids and government paid cars according to the article....). Fneish moved in and slashed their salaries and terminated their benefits.

Fneish banned the use of dynamite by the local fishermen in the Tripoli area back in 2005 to protect the under-sea pipeline supplying the Beddawi power plant with fuel.




Public Works and Transport Minister Mohammad Safadi


Following Fneish's resignation in November 2006, acting minister Mohammad Safadi lifted the ban on fishing around the Beddawi plant and cancelled Fneish's fiscal reforms targeting the Zahrani and Tripoli oil terminal employees. Safadi went on to expand the staff of the Tripoli refinery even further by hiring 39 additional employees....

1 comment:

Zucchini said...

Mr. N.
Where are you on the current critical pending situation in LEBANON, we need to read your PEN.
From Zuch with love
x.