App to complain about govt services in Lebanon on the way

Information Minister Melhem Riachi Monday announced that work had begun to create a mobile application to allow members of the public to submit complaints about government services. Speaking at a meeting with representatives from various ministries, Riachi also said that a plan to replace his ministry with the Information, Communication and Dialogue Ministry was in the process of being completed.

“The structure of the [new] ministry has been prepared and will be sent to Cabinet within 48 hours,” Riachi said.

He said that the ministry will include a department related to modern media and its focus will be to foster dialogue between the public and the republic, a link he said can be achieved through the mobile application that is being designed.

“Through the application, the ministry will follow up on complaints from any citizen and [in turn] it will refer them to the concerned ministries,” he said.

Riachi explained that this network will facilitate the work of various ministries and will aim to serve the people in the most efficient way possible. “This will increase citizens’ trust with their state,” he noted, adding that he is betting on the success of the project and the change that it can bring within public administrations.

President Michel Aoun and Cabinet ministers will be briefed on the details of the project in order to garner their support, the minister said.

“We want to change the image of [public administrations] starting with this project,” he said.

Numerous reports by international bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have pointed to Lebanon’s slow and complex bureaucratic systems as hampering economic growth and development. Similar reports have also highlighted that corruption and bribery are common, costing the Lebanese public millions a year.