Union of Workers’ Syndicates of North Lebanon president urges Joseph Aoun to act against corruption

The President of the Union of Workers’ Syndicates of North Lebanon, Shadi al-Sayyed, on Tuesday called on the new head of state, General Joseph Aoun, to “fight against corruption and pursue the corrupt,” during a sit-in organized by the federation in front of the oil installations in Beddawi, south of Tripoli (North Lebanon), reported our regional correspondent Michel Hallak.

He strongly opposed the possible closure of the facilities in Lebanon’s second city, recently announced by the outgoing Energy and Water Minister Walid Fayad: a matter that, according to him, should be “in the hands of the new ministerial team,” a few days before its formation by the designated Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

Denouncing “widespread corruption” prevailing within the ministry’s administration, al-Sayyed accused it of taking illegitimate measures to “conceal” administrative shortcomings, fueled by “the favoritism of the Free Patriotic Movement” (FPM, Aounist). Fayad is considered close to the FPM, a party chaired by MP and former Energy Minister, then of Foreign Affairs Gebran Bassil, son-in-law of former President Michel Aoun.

According to al-Sayyed, this phenomenon is particularly evident in “the recent administrative appointments” within the Ministry made on Jan. 1, 2025, despite prevailing laws.

For his part, the president of the refineries union, Youssef Babti, also present at the site, highlighted “the administrative void that prevails in managing the facilities,” while calling on the new government “to fully assume its responsibility in protecting these infrastructures” and to “ensure transparent management of the concerned ministry.”

In November 2022, Walid Fayad announced the temporary closure of these structures following the proliferation of infractions, including thefts and acts of vandalism. During the same year, the unions of workers and contractors of the oil installations in Tripoli (North Lebanon) held several strikes to denounce the deterioration of their working conditions and the collapse of their wages, in a context of multiple crises paralyzing the country for more than four years.

The oil installations of Tripoli, as well as those of Zahrani, constitute the main fuel import routes supervised by the State.