When Melhem al-Riachi took over his duties at the Information Ministry from Ramzi Jreij, he discovered that the financial legacy left by his predecessor is heavier than the budget of the ministry.
97 employees were hired at ministry during Jreij’s mandate as freelancers, the majority of whom work at the National News Agency, and the remaining minority was referred to the Directorate of Studies.
The duties and salaries of these 97 employees were distributed as follows:
Translators with a salary of $1200 per month, delegates with a salary of $1000 per month and editors/writers with a salary of $850 per month
Should the law be applied, the contracts of these employees should have been for a limited time period with a limited duty, not lasting for years as it was the case.
Since the budget of the Information Ministry cannot afford the said salaries, especially for people who were hired as ‘political favors’, said staff have not received their wages for 16 months, as Minister al-Riachi is set to terminate their contracts on April 28.
For more details, watch the full report in the video above