BEIRUT: Funding for road maintenance are prioritized solely by the needs of each district, Public Works Minister Ghazi Zeaiter said Friday, rejecting accusations that political and sectarian concerns had influenced the distribution of funds.
“Lebanese governance and districts have great needs and the Public Works Ministry's budget is very limited. We try to create a balance among the districts,” Zeaiter told a local radio station.
“When I assign a budget to a district, it is because it needs more [maintenance] than others and not for sectarian or partisan reasons.”
Political sources told The Daily Star Friday that a spat erupted in Thursday’s Cabinet session between Zeaiter and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil over the amount of money to be invested in regions where MP Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement enjoys wide support.
Zeaiter has come under scrutiny from some lawmakers, who accused him of favoring the Baalbek-Hermel region over other areas, including Christian ones.
A member of Speaker Nabih Berri’s Development and Liberation bloc, Zeaiter is also an MP representing Baalbek-Hermel.
“The budget that was determined to fix roads in some districts did not meet the demands of a district that Bassil's [party] represents, and I am certain that we will draft another budget to compensate other areas,” he said.
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