Executive August issue cover (Illustration by Ivan Debs)
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Three years ago, we asked then Minister of Energy Gebran Bassil about how millions of dollars made from the sale of oil and gas data were being managed as part of our coverage of the governance of the nascent industry. He told us it wasn’t important. When we ran an article suggesting such secrecy is a bad thing, he sued us for defamation. This month, we won. What kills me, however, is that our in-depth coverage that exposes with irrefutable truth suspicions of cronyism got overlooked by the general public, civil society and those responsible for investigating such doubts. I welcome the judgment, but the most important questions remain unanswered: where’s the money and what checks and balances are in place to safeguard our interests? The purpose of sticking out our necks quite prominently is not to get shares and likes or even warm handshakes. We demand an investigation. There
Excellent stuff Yasser, thank you! May I slip in a small suggestion? Why not allocate a small portion of EXECUTIVE’s columns to suggestions or proposals by the readers and add your staff’s comments. In other words, start a real people’s dialogue on how we can all help each other and jointly build a Nation.For example I would have been really interested in knowing more about that waste management deal with the private sector that you mention, considering that I have written reams of paper on the subject and met with dozens of members of Civil Society and waste management pundits.
GEORGEAugust 3, 2016 - 7:38 AM
TRANSPARENCY … is the name of the game !
a lebaneseAugust 18, 2016 - 2:04 PM
As the popular saying goes: “Whats that? There’s oil on Mars? Looks like Mars needs some Freedom!” Maybe the only reason that we’re still (albeit on one leg) standing , is that we haven’t started pumping. A blessing, because as soon as that first gallon erupts, we might need a regime change…
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3 comments
Excellent stuff Yasser, thank you! May I slip in a small suggestion? Why not allocate a small portion of EXECUTIVE’s columns to suggestions or proposals by the readers and add your staff’s comments. In other words, start a real people’s dialogue on how we can all help each other and jointly build a Nation.For example I would have been really interested in knowing more about that waste management deal with the private sector that you mention, considering that I have written reams of paper on the subject and met with dozens of members of Civil Society and waste management pundits.
TRANSPARENCY … is the name of the game !
As the popular saying goes: “Whats that? There’s oil on Mars? Looks like Mars needs some Freedom!” Maybe the only reason that we’re still (albeit on one leg) standing , is that we haven’t started pumping. A blessing, because as soon as that first gallon erupts, we might need a regime change…
Comments are closed.