BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Cabinet made a series of appointments Wednesday, naming a board of directors for a free trade zone project in Tripoli and a new chairman of Beirut’s main public hospital.
At a meeting convened by Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail, the Cabinet agreed on the appointment of a board of directors for a planned special economic zone in Tripoli, Information Minister Ramzi Joreige announced following the session.
The board will be presided over by former Finance Minister Raya al-Hasan, and will consist of six other members: former Finance Minister Jihad Azour, Wassim Mansouri, Antoine Habib, Ramzi Hafez, Antoine Diab and Ashir al-Dayeh.
The Cabinet also approved the appointment of Firas al-Abyad as new chairman of Beirut’s Rafik Hariri University Hospital.
Abyad will succeed Faisal Shatila, who announced his resignation in February. Health Minister Wael Abu Faour welcomed the move at the time, saying Shatila’s resignation would help facilitate a rescue plan for the hospital, which has been plagued by financial difficulties.
After a recent accord on the government’s decision-making process, agreements on appointments are now being largely negotiated outside Cabinet meetings; candidates are then put forward during the official sessions for approval.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Joreige said that the appointment of a new chair and board of directors for the state-run Tele Liban has been prioritized following the uproar caused by the station’s airing of an interview with Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah.
Tuesday, Joreige apologized to Saudi Arabia for remarks Nasrallah made during an interview Monday, in which he condemned Riyadh’s involvement in Yemen. Many March 14 officials criticized the airing of Nasrallah’s anti-Saudi remarks on state-run television.
But contrary to expectations, it was not brought up during the Cabinet session.
“It seems that the issue was resolved outside the Cabinet, as it was raised neither by the information minister nor by any other minister,” Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi told The Daily Star.
The three-hour session featured a thorough discussion of the crisis resulting from the halting of overland exports to the Gulf states, cut off last week when Syrian rebels seized control of the Nassib crossing on the Jordanian border.
The government tasked Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb with preparing a report on ways to solve the crisis. Speaking to reporters on his way to the meeting, Chehayeb said transporting goods by sea was the only viable solution.
“But this method is expensive; we will see whether the government will decide to buy vessels for this purpose,” Chehayeb said.
The minister added that he had reached an agreement with the ministers of industry, economy, and transport and public works, along with the customs department and a number of other syndicates, on measures to transport goods by sea for the next three months. The agreement could be renewable if conditions do not improve.
The Cabinet also approved a deal between Lebanon’s Interior Ministry and a French printing house Wednesday, to commence the production of new Lebanese passports.
Ministers also agreed to approve a Telecoms Ministry contract with the Lebanese Yellow Pages, which will see the publication of the directory’s guides on government websites.
And in what is becoming a weekly tradition, the Cabinet decreed the allocation of funds to ministries and the prime minister’s office, a move necessitated by the absence of an official budget.
Joreige added that ministers also accepted donations offered to a number of ministries and approved several ministers’ requests to attend conferences abroad.
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