Minister of Public Works and Transport in the caretaker government, Ali Hamieh, confirmed, "I have been a contractor at the Lebanese University since 2008 and I have the right to return to it, but I reversed the decision made in the Cabinet, and I wished President Mikati would do that after it turned into a public opinion matter." In an interview with the program "Sar Al-Waqt" on MTV, he pointed out that "I was very keen on enforcing the law and sovereignty and not wasting public funds. Hezbollah stands behind the Lebanese state on the issue of maritime borders. It has escalated, but the decision on negotiations rests with the President of the Republic. Today, I represent the Ministry of Public Works, not Hezbollah, and it has its own political and diplomatic channels to express its opinion."
Hamieh viewed that caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati "is trying to smooth things over. In the current government, the work was collaborative, agreed upon, and involved continuous dialogue. The contentious points were postponed. I objected to the recovery plan, and we do not just stamp for approval," he added. "The financial crisis that Lebanon is experiencing has never been seen before and is a result of accumulations."
Regarding the Dhahran al-Baydar road issue, he said, "I met with the contractors and urged them to pave it because I did not have 'fresh' funds in the ministry and I was unable to light up Dhahran al-Baydar." He continued, "I will work on addressing potholes along the main and international roads in Lebanon because I am unable to fully pave them. We will work on developing the airport. Beirut airport's electricity is a priority. Only when Lebanon's electricity network is completely disconnected will we operate the generators, and 'Middle East Airlines' pays 'in fresh' to secure the continuity of fuel supply for the airport's lighting."
He added, "We are about to embark on a project to expand the airport and are preparing terms of reference for issuing tenders through the tenders administration. Major companies have contacted me." Regarding the Port of Beirut, he stated, "The reconstruction of the port will begin at the end of the summer. My concern is to increase revenues, improve services, and create services that have not previously been available at Lebanese ports, and I have considered activating it before reconstruction."
Moreover, Hamieh emphasized, "The doors of the Ministry of Public Works are open to all countries except Israel, and we have met with the French on multiple projects in the port, transportation, and others." He pointed out that he provided "many services to Iraq in exchange for securing fuel for Lebanon, and the accounts are handled by the Ministry of Finance, and the International Monetary Fund delegation praised the work of the Ministry of Public Works."
He further stated, "The state is wronged in the file of maritime properties, and I requested to triple the fees on public maritime properties. We have a plan to improve and develop the railways in Lebanon, and we will connect them to Basra." He concluded by saying, "We will issue a memo to remove all illegal advertisements located on public properties, after which we will proceed with the licensing."
