It is a blessing for an NGO in Lebanon to receive a donation from an international organization in acknowledgement of its humanitarian services role and to help strengthen its capabilities. But for the donation to arrive and be put to good use in social projects - that is a blessing not to be envied! Our story is only a small example of the tasks to be confronted when faced with bureaucracy and red tape.

Donation arrival

On Feb.15,2001, The Social and Cultural Development Association (Inma) received a donation from the Geneva Red Cross (two ambulances equipped with the latest medical equipment for use as moving clinics) after the organization had paid $5,200 in freight charges and handling to the Port of Beirut.

First exemption request

A formal request was issued by the NGO to the Ministry of Public Health for an exemption from customs duties on the donation - a standard procedure followed by NGOs. The Ministry then forwarded the request to the Council of Ministers for approval. The Council forwarded the request 20 days later to the Higher Customs Council, through the Ministry of Finance. The request was refused on the grounds that the noted NGO was not among those that qualify for an exemption, according to Chapter 4 of Customs Law. However, several similar NGOs had received exemptions under the same circumstances.

Second Exemption Request

Another request was issued to the Ministry of Social Affairs in June 2001 and was responded to two months later. The Minister refused the request because the 2001 budget law, numbered 326 and dated June 28, 2001 had cancelled all exemptions.

Cost of the Paperwork Delay

The delay caused an additional $3,000 in demerages to the Port of Beirut. While two months of negotiations to resolve this issue went on between the port authority and the Ministry of Transportation & Public Works, nothing changed. In the meantime, an estimation of the ambulances value was undertaken. This operation took 12 days and the organization was obliged to pay approximately $6,500 in customs fees.

Finalizing the paperwork

Inma, however, could not register the vehicles till an employee at the Ministry of Public Health submitted a report on ambulances and mobile clinics since no law regulating mobile clinics exists, which finally led to their registration, 4 months later, by early March 2002.

Conclusion

This 14-month long procedure which cost the NGO considerable expenses, raised the following issues in our minds:

• The unequitable government treatment in terms of exemptions and the reason why laws are not amended to be more just.
• While there is always talk about making these procedures faster and easier, just transferring the matter from place to place takes months.

In the mean time, the vehicles are yet to be used because the personnel hired to operate them couldn’t wait that long and the NGO is now trying to recruit new staff.

Jawad Adra