BEIRUT:
A member of the Beirut municipal council accused the acting governor of Beirut
of protecting “rampant corruption” in the municipality Wednesday, calling for
him to be replaced with a full-fledged governor.
Khalil
Broummana said that Nassif Qaloush, the acting governor of Beirut, is
protecting an employee who, according to the lawmaker, is requesting bribes in
return for performing his job, adding that the governor’s office was doing
nothing to hold corrupt employees in the municipality accountable.
In
response, Qaloush accused Broummana of being “the biggest broker,” arguing that
the council member was criticizing municipality employees because they are not
allowing him to carry out illegal deals.
“A
number of employees are seeking to take advantage of public service to further
their personal interests through bribes and delaying paperwork for people until
they pay them money, which costs people a lot,” Broummana told a news
conference.
He
said the governor’s office is not doing its job in “monitoring employees who
seek to humiliate people, disregarding moral conduct ... and the required respect
of any citizen who has paperwork [to process].
“We
have raised the issue several times but with no results,” he added.
“They
are tarnishing our reputation, we who were elected to defend the interests of
people,” Broummana said, calling on Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and
government inspection authorities to step in.
Contacted
by The Daily Star, Broummana said that the acting governor was protecting a
corrupt municipal employee.
“Twenty
days ago, he [the employee] forced them to pay a LL1 million as a bribe in
return for doing his job, and now he tried to do the same thing again when they
asked him to examine a [construction] violation.”
Qaloush
is protecting the employee, said Broummana. “He [the employee] told these
people that he would not serve them unless he receives permission from [the
governor].”
But
speaking to The Daily Star, Qaloush said Broummana was “the biggest broker.”
“Let
him tell us, whom does he represent? Anyway, the municipal council will hold
him accountable and all employees in the municipality will take action against
him before the judiciary,” Qaloush added.
Broummana
called for appointing a full-fledged governor to replace the acting governor.
“It is time to appoint a
governor for Beirut to correct [the path] and make an effort to preserve the
unity of its municipal council, rather than working relentlessly to rip it
apart, along with [carrying out] the principal goal of combating corruption.”
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