BEIRUT: Telecommunication Minister Jebran Bassil on Friday filed a law suit against state run OGERO company’s director general Abdel-Menim Youssif for allegedly hindering the work of the ministry for obvious political reasons. “It is probably a precedent that a minister goes directly to the justice to complain about one staff or more for not doing their jobs properly. I don’t care how high the rank of this staff is. I will not allow anyone to hamper the work of the ministry,” Bassil said at a press conference. 

He added that according to articles 371 and 373, any employees who exploited their positions directly or indirectly to delay the executions of laws and rules would be imprisoned from three to two years and fined a certain amount of money. 

The caretaker minister said that Youssif and other employees at the ministry refused direct orders from him to carry out specific duties which affected the performance of the ministry. 

Citing examples, Bassil said that he had signed several contracts with leading international companies to set up call centers in Lebanon. 

“Many of these firms decided to cancel the contracts because the ministry failed to supply them with E1 devices. It turned out that some of the staff at the ministry declined to do their job and this resulted in withdrawal of these companies,” he said. 

Bassil said that call centers could have created thousands of jobs in Lebanon. “These call centers will benefit both the citizen and treasury,” he added. 

Bassil said some of the ministry staff are being pressured by their superiors not to cooperate with the minister. 

Responding to a question, Bassil stressed that Prime Minister designate Saad Hariri will not cover up any of the employees who fail to do their jobs. 

“I appeal to the judicial authorities to act immediately not for the sake of the minister but for the sake of Lebanon, its citizens and the country’s reputation,” he said.  – The Daily Star