But the matter may reach the brink of a scandal when the Lebanese realize that the billions of Lebanese pounds spent in the past few years were wasted on road maintenance works that were not put into action or that, in the best case scenarios, were partly implemented with little if any conformity to the proper technical standards, the roads thus reverting to their previous deplorable state in just a few weeks or months after the termination of works. This happens despite the supervision of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport over the execution of works or its entry into contracts with consultancy offices responsible for overseeing the projects but seemingly colluding with the companies in charge of the works.

In the few months prior to his resignation, Minister of Public Works and Transport Ghazi Aridi announced that the ministry failed to carry out any works due to shortage in funds. He noted that Lebanon’s roads would turn into lakes by the time winter approaches because his ministry was denied the amounts necessary to clean and open the sewers and drainage pipes, thus putting the blame on the Ministry of Finance. In response to Aridi’s claims, the Minister of Finance asserted that the funds were available at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and that it was their fault to have spent most of the funds. News circulated that the sums squandered during Minister Ghazi Aridi’s term are the largest compared to all his predecessors.

The following figures will reveal the truth by exposing the exact amounts spent by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

Ministry’s Budget

The budget assigned to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport stood in 2000 at LBP 190.496 billion accounting for 2.23% of the total public expenditures. In 2012, the Ministry was allocated LBP 538.198 billion or 2.55% of the expenditures.

The following Table 1 illustrates the evolution of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport’s budget between 2000 and 2012 as well as its share of the total public expenditures. The Ministry’s budget increased by 182% while the public budget increased by 147%.

Source: Public budget laws between 2000 and 2005 and draft public budget laws between 2006 and 2012

Ghazi Aridi: Top Spender

The credits allocated to maintain and improve Lebanon’s roads differed from year to year soaring from LBP 101.9 billion in 2000 to LBP 420 billion in 2012, i.e. up by LBP 318 billion or 312% as illustrated in the following Table 2 and additional credits section.

A close examination of the tenures of all five ministers who have succeeded to office since 2000 reveals that the largest amounts were spent under Ghazi Aridi’s term either due to the rise in prices which dictated higher costs or to his being the longest serving minister.

Spending under Aridi’s tenure jumped up to LBP 1525.5 billion (around USD 1 billion), of which LBP 1,060 billion were assigned to the Ministry in the public budget and the remaining LBP 465.5 billion were granted in the form of additional credits. This translates into an average of LBP 300 billion (USD 199 million) annually.

The Ministry’s spending stood at LBP 310 billion or around LBP 103 billion (USD 68.3 million) annually when Mohammad Safadi was in office while it reached LBP 484 billion or around LBP 121 billion (USD 80.3 million) annually during the term of Najib Mikati.

Source: Public budget laws between 2000 and 2005 and draft public budget laws between 2006 and 2012

Additional Credits

Spending was not restricted to the amounts listed under certain clauses of the public budget, for additional credits were allocated from the budget reserves or as treasury advances in order to complete the works of building and maintenance. The additional credits totaled LBP 491 billion distributed according to the following years:

2012

Decree No. 8535 dated July 18, 2012 transferred LBP 177 billion from the budget reserves to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. Of the transferred amount, LBP 117 billion were assigned for road maintenance as follows:

• Maintenance of international roads: LBP 17 billion
• Maintenance of primary roads: LBP 19 billion
• Maintenance of secondary roads: LBP 19 billion
• Maintenance of internal roads: LBP 31 billion
• Maintenance of local roads: LBP 31 billion

2011

• Decree No. 6737 dated October 28, 2011 granted the Ministry of Public Works and Transport a treasury advance of LBP 130 billion to award a concession for the rebuilding and maintenance of the road network in different Lebanese regions.
• Decree No. 6971 dated November 25, 2011 granted the Ministry of Public Works and Transport a treasury advance of LBP 70 billion to fill the gap between previous and current credit allocations.
• Decree No. 6972 dated November 25, 2011 granted the Ministry of Public Works and Transport a treasury advance of LBP 140 billion for the execution of road maintenance and rebuilding works through Requests for Proposals solicitation at around LBP 109 billion.

2010

• Decree No. 4742 dated July 31, 2010 transferred LBP 750 million from the budget reserves to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to remove the landslides that occurred on the routes leading to the Gibran Museum in Bsharri.

2009

• Decree No. 1303 dated February 6, 2009 transferred credits totaling LBP 7.820 billion from the Council for Development and Construction to the Ministry of Public Works to build and maintain roads.

2008

• Decree No. 1195 dated March 28, 2008 transferred LBP 500 million from the budget reserves to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to maintain the Mansourieh road.

2007

• Legally operative Decree No. 997 dated November 24, 2008 transferred LBP 1.950 billion from the budget reserves to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to build a primary road in the town of Sfireh.
• Legally operative Decree No. 738 dated September 20, 2007 transferred LBP 3 billion from the budget reserves to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to maintain roads in the regions of Jbeil, Western Beqa’a- Rashaya and Baalbeck-Hermel.

2003

• Decree No. 11076 dated October 3, 2003 transferred LBP 1 billion from the budget reserves to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to maintain local roads in the Qada’a of Akkar.
• Decree No. 10769 dated September 6, 2003 transferred LBP 2 billion from the budget reserves to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to rehabilitate the Al-Qasr-Hermel road.
• Decree No. 10525 dated July 25, 2003 transferred LBP 1 billion from the budget reserves to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to maintain the local roads in Lebanon’s summer destinations.

2002

• Decree No. 9133 dated November 29, 2002 transferred LBP 300 million from the budget reserves to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to maintain local roads in the Qada’a of Akkar.
• Decree No. 9037 dated November 6, 2002 transferred LBP 3.5 billion from the budget reserves to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to rehabilitate the Tripoli-Seer-Huwara road in Dennieh.
• Decree No. 7454 dated February 19, 2002 transferred LBP 1.982 billion from the budget reserves to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to carry out urgent preparatory works for the Arab League that was held in Lebanon.

2001

• Decree No. 6087 dated August 16, 2001 transferred LBP 3 billion from the budget reserves to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to maintain the roads for the Francophone Summit in Beirut.
• Decree No. 5983 dated July 30, 2001 transferred LBP 7.488 billion from the budget reserves to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to carry out infrastructure works on the Zahrani-Tyre road towards Jouya and Tebnine.

Ministry of Public Works and Transport (2000- 2013)

Ghazi Aridi: Longest Serving Minister

The Ministry of Transport was introduced in April 1993 as a stand-alone entity. Later in August 2000, it was merged with the Ministry of Public Works under the name Ministry of Public Works and Transport. Unlike the case with different sovereign posts, this Ministry was never set aside for a certain political or sectarian group, although there is a clear tendency nowadays to make it an exclusive prerogative for the Druze. So far, Minister Ghazi Aridi has assumed the longest tenure- five years- as the head of the ministry. The ministers that succeeded to office at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport are:

• Najib Mikati (Sunni) headed this post under two governments from October 26, 2000 until October 26, 2004, i.e. for four years.
• Yassine Jaber (Shia’a) assumed office from October 26, 2004 until April 19, 2005, i.e. for 5 months and 24 days.
• Adel Hamieh (Druze) took on ministerial responsibilities from April 19, 2005 until July 19, 2005, i.e. for 3 months.
• Mohammad Safadi (Sunni) was minister from July 19, 2005 until November 7, 2008, i.e. for 3 years and 3 months and 19 days.
• Ghazi Aridi served as Minister of Public Works and Transport in three successive governments from November 7, 2008 until his resignation on December 16, 2013, i.e. for five years and 1 month and 9 days. Minister Ahmad Karami took office as acting Minister of Public Works and Transport after Aridi.

Annual average spending on roads per minister