Interior and Municipalities Minister Bassam Molawi has sent a letter to the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces to investigate the incident in which public transport buses belonging to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport were vandalized between the neighborhoods of Dora and Karantina. Passengers faced assaults, and drivers were threatened.
In a post on the "X" platform, Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamie said, "What happened with the bus in the Dora area, as we understand it, is a matter deserving notification, as everything that happened has been recorded by cameras." He added, "It is as if a citizen is prohibited from living under the care of the state to benefit from even the least it can provide him with, by order of some 'thugs' who have appointed themselves as 'road rulers.'"
Hamie further questioned, "Is it reasonable? Where are the concerned security forces assigned to protect the citizen's right to move by any means he chooses? How is it permissible to terrorize people and force them to disembark from the bus? Who protects the buses that are essentially owned by the state? Who defends a driver subjected to insults without committing any offense?"
Hamie continued, "To the Lebanese people, I say again, we did not establish these buses nor determine their fare arbitrarily to cut anyone's livelihood. Rather, we wanted and continue to want them to be integrated with the private sector transport buses. Our course continues, and we will not stop doing everything we can to restore some trust among citizens in their state that takes care of them. Every administrative or security party should integrate with us and do what is necessary to achieve that."
