Report details billions of government waste

A full report disclosing the seriousness of public waste in all the government's institutions was handed down, yesterday, by the monitoring institutions during the meeting of the parliament's finance and budget committee. The central inspection authority, auditing department, civil service board and general disciplinary council revealed, for the first time, through numbers and details, the billions wasted in the ministries, administrations and presidencies.

The committee's president, MP Khalil Hrawi reported the monitoring institutions' complaints, saying they were unable to properly do their jobs because "their opinions were not taken into account."

Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, meanwhile, had a lunch meeting with President Elias Hrawi in Baabda. Sources affirmed it was a preparation for the second meeting, expected on Sunday, between the two leaders and speaker Nabih Berri.

Another lunch meeting took place, yesterday in the Bekaa, between speaker Berri and Bashar Assad, the son of the Syrian president Hafez Assad. The discussions centered around the latest developments in the region and in Lebanon.