Residents and politicians have raised calls for the adoption of the highest standards of transparency in the distribution of government cash contributions to families in need.
During its meeting on Thursday, the Council of Ministers will adopt an executive mechanism for the distribution of aid, following a decision to provide LBP 400,000 for underprivileged families.
Following a cabinet session on Tuesday, Minister of Information Manal Abdel Samad said that providing the cash contribution was part of a plan developed by the Ministry of Social Affairs under “very precise criteria.”
She added that other details would be agreed upon during Thursday’s session.
MP Dima Jamali voiced her concern over the selection process and called on the government to define the criteria, on which the families to whom aid will be distributed would be designated. She also said that the government should reveal the information on which it would rely.
For his part, MP Akram Shehayeb, said that the government was dealing superficially with the coronavirus crisis with its health, economic and social consequences.
“If we concede that aid is provided, how will those resources reach the people in need? Politics should not interfere with aid because this government is dominated by one side,” he warned.
