Lebanon’s “Minister of Asphalt” Resigns: Public Works Overflow With Corruption

The performance was dramatic, even surpassing his predecessor, Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, who resigned from a resignation almost three years ago. All that was missing yesterday was for tissues to be distributed to ministry staff to wipe their tears.

The "teacher" is leaving. "Here, he is selling us fish in the sea. He did what he did for the longest time. And now, his chief [MP Walid Jumblatt] will no longer cover up for him, so here he is selling us his resignation," someone whispered to a friend.

But why should people care about Aridi's feelings about his daughter Lama? What service will it do to those who drownedin the airport road tunnel two weeks ago, when the minister takes out a note from his wallet that his daughter wrote years ago? How does this relate to the fishermen in Daliyeh, who wanted to expand their fishing port and Aridi stopped them, contrary to what he said yesterday? Why would he thank his son-in-law Fouad, his grandchildren, and the people and sheikhs of his village of Baissour?

Did he think that angry masses would take to the streets after his sad press conference to demand his return to the ministry? Of course not, Aridi is too smart for that. Then why turn his resignation into a Greek tragedy? Aridi is known to be verbose, and he knows how to use it to his advantage. He is skilled at unleashing a tide of ideas to mystify and confuse his listeners. Aridi used all those powers yesterday.

Two weeks after the flooding of the airport road tunnel, the outpouring of financial scandals – full of clientelism and party favors – have not come to an end. Yesterday, Lebanese citizens saw the corruption gushing from the hole that is the Ministry of Public Works. Yet this only speaks for a small portion of the stolen money.

He arrived at his office in the ministry and sat down with a weary smile on his face. He went back five years to the time of the Fouad Siniora government. "At the cabinet meeting, Safadi, who was the minister of public works back then, had said that around $2 billion were stolen from the ministry," Aridi explained.

Where is the money? Aridi asked and regretted the fact that no one has answered the question. Then he jumped to another "corruption" issue. People listened carefully, since it is not every day that an official decides to uncover so many things. But on the airport tunnel issue, Aridi is certain that "the Ministry of Finance does not have anything [to do] with it. I am saying it directly. However, I asked about the role of Middle East Airport Services (MEAS), but did not receive an answer."

Aridi picked up the letter sent from the contractor that the aforementioned company said was to blame. He said that they were asked to clean the pumps in Ouzai, but not the airport road. But another "surprise" was in store. "I was asked to cover up for the company, but I refused.

The company has been functioning illegally for years without a bidding process, since the governments of Siniora, [Saad] Hariri, and [Najib] Mikati." But who asked the minister to cover up? Aridi does not want to say. He decided that no questions shall be asked at the conference "because everything will be said."

"I will not be a facade for anyone," he declared. "I merely belong to the Progressive Socialist Party." He said this before telling his story about Safadi's violation of beachfront property. "When he was minister of public works, [Safadi] gave himself a license for a beachfront project. They asked me to let them pour [cement] at night, but not to speak about them in the day. But I refused."

Why did Aridi wait all these years to speak about the scandals? Why didn't he inform the judiciary? Isn't the silence of an official a crime in itself? It is up to the courts, but it does not mean that those accused by Aridi are angels. They all have a common language. He spoke about$ 400 million lost by the state treasury in customs. "Some entities are corrupt and covered by senior officials in the state," he explained. But who are they? Aridi would not say.

The minister of public works jumps to the "scandal" of Roumieh prison. He mentioned a meeting last week at Prime Minister Najib Mikati's home, but "I will not divulge what happened." For Aridi, "the whole issue is at the Interior Ministry and … has nothing to do with the Public Works Ministry. … I told them at the meeting to tell the people the truth."

It is clear that the contractor for Roumieh prison is being protected by higher powers. "Everyone called me to protect this contractor, and I threatened to say everything after I received a text that contradicted the agreement in Mikati's home."

Aridi moves to the issue of the fishing port in Beirut’s Daliyeh. Here, he used some of his verbal acrobatics. "Why did many people swallow their tongues, including the media, when I recently unveiled the secrets of the Daliyeh case?" These words may pass unnoticed by those who are not following the issue, but anyone who goes to Daliyeh today will see that the ministry's works have stopped, inexplicably, although he promised to continue the works weeks ago.

This part of Aridi's press conference, according to some observers, is a live example of his ridiculing the facts and trying to mystify his audience. While the resigned minister did meet the judge yesterday, "if I was sure that the judiciary, who received everything I have, will tell the people the whole truth, I would not have held this press conference and spoken." Of course, such a statement will make the Higher Judicial Council very sad.

Aridi thanked everyone: the president, Siniora, Hariri, Mikati, and everyone he worked with. He thanked his family and "my boss and charming lover," a reference to Jumblatt who went unnamed. And he thanked his daughter who had said to him, "It is a waste to be in the ministry of asphalt in this dreaded country."

"Today I announce that I stopped working with the caretaker government and will go on a political vacation," he declared and ended the press conference. But the minister who is doubly resigned did not say everything.

He left and was replaced by Minister Ahmad Karami. Aridi is "back to the ranks of the masses," but not a single person took to the streets to demand his return.

Aridi’s flattering words to Jumblatt did not work. The terms "friend" or "companion" are not enough to keep the immunity provided by the chief of al-Mukhtara, Jumblatt’s residence. Jumblatt said yesterday, "Aridi is a member of a party and cannot act on his own."

Behind this public statement hides Jumblatt’s great anger, which is no longer a secret. Informed sources maintained toAl-Akhbar that, lately, Jumblatt had repeated, "I do not protect the corrupt," at the mention of Aridi. Sources point to a huge disagreement between Aridi and the “Saudi Kingdom and Jumblatt, related to the disappearance of large sums of money he used to receive from Saudi to finance the Syrian opposition."