Joint Parliamentary Committees Approve Fines on Illegal Seaside Properties to Fund Wage Scale

The joint parliamentary committees approved on Thursday imposing fines on illegal seaside properties as part of the plan to fund the new wage scale, reported several media outlets.

They approved the article on imposing fines on seaside properties with a retroactive effect of five years.

Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said that 7.5 percent of the fine will be imposed on illegal seaside construction, while 2.5 percent will be imposed on illegal properties.

LBCI television meanwhile spoke of a tense atmosphere at the joint parliamentary committees as a result of a dispute over the illegal seaside properties that preceded the approval of the article.

The meeting witnessed the withdrawal of MP Alaeddine Terro, who accused some ministers at the talks of not wanting to resolve the dispute over the funding of the new wage scale.

Earlier, Speaker Nabih Berri had warned that lawmakers “were in for a long night” in order to resolve the dispute over the wage scale and its funding.

Ahead of the session, Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Ali Fayyad had stated that he advocates increasing the Value Added Tax on luxury products as part of efforts to fund the scale.

He suggested raising the VAT to 15 percent.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon later voiced its opposition to the tax measures proposed by the joint parliamentary committees to fund the new wage scale.

It consequently announced that banks in Lebanon will be closed on Friday in protest against the suggestions.

The Economic Committees held an emergency meeting on Thursday in order to study the “catastrophic tax measures” adopted by the joint parliamentary committees and their effects on the national economy.

“The arbitrary decisions were adopted as part of political interests aimed at scaring away Lebanese investments in their own country and killing the Lebanese economy,” they said.

They therefore urged Speaker Nabih Berri to withhold presenting the new wage scale before parliament, noting: “Funding the wage scale through taxes will not only negatively impact the national economy, but all the Lebanese people including those who will benefit from the scale.”

The Syndicate Coordination Committee had staged a strike on Wednesday to pressure the joint parliamentary committees to refer the new wage scale to parliament.

The committees have held several sessions to study the means in which to fund the scale.

The SCC had warned of escalation in the protests, of an open-ended strike and of boycotting (the correction of) official exams.

Former Prime Minister Najib Miqati's cabinet endorsed in 2012 a new salary scale for public employees ending a long dispute that had prompted the SCC to hold several sit-ins and strikes.

President Michel Suleiman signed the decree mid-June 2013 and it was referred to the joint parliamentary committees for further scrutiny.

The wage increase will be retroactive from July 1, 2012.

The state treasury will have more than $1.2 billion to cover as there are over 180,000 public sector employees including military personnel.

M.T.

Y.R.