BEIRUT: Economy and Trade Minister Alain Hakim lashed back at Health Minister Wael Abu Faour Monday, accusing him of seeking media propaganda through his highly-publicized campaign against food corruption.
“Fighting corruption does not start with Halabi and Kababji (restaurants) but at a high level, such as tackling the issue of (solid) waste management for example,” Hakim told a news conference.
Abu Faour and Hakim have been locked in a war of words over the former's criticism of the latter over poor storage and hygiene conditions at the grain silos in Beirut Port and for storage and distribution of expired sugar in Tripoli.
Accusing Abu Faour of acting in an arbitrary and personal manner, Hakim said, “food security is a legal, technical and governmental issue which should be handled by the ministerial food security committee” set up specifically for that purpose, instead of being exposed in the media.
He charged that the inspection visit carried out by Abu Faour and Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb to the grain silo in Beirut port last week had turned into a “circus show” and “propaganda campaign.”
Abu Faour als said rats and pigeons found in the silos were sharing with the Lebanese their wheat.
“What happened is an insult to the council of ministers and an insult to the employees of the Ministry of Economy, who are doing their best to monitor food quality under difficult conditions,” he said, adding that his ministry will be cooperating with other ministries within the framework of the ministerial committee which is chaired by Prime Minister Tammam Salam.
Hakim also charged that the Lebanese economy is being systematically undermined through Abu Faour’s campaign which had blacklisted restaurants, supermarkets and bakeries, among other food establishments.
The Health Ministry had blasted the Economy Ministry over the weekend, describing it as a “ministry of paperwork,” after the latter rejected any responsibility for expired sugar being sold from Tripoli’s port, in a growing dispute between the two.
Abu Faour had told a news conference that 700 tons of expired sugar was found at Tripoli’s port and that he was concerned about the amount of expired sugar that has already been released from the port and sold to citizens.
In the tit-for-tat exchange, the Economy Ministry said that it was not responsible for answering Abu Faour’s questions, with the exception of inquiries related to the amount of goods currently in warehouses and the date of their entry into Lebanon.
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