Tripoli, 19 April:
A enquiry has been set up to investigate into the scandal surrounding the grants paid to thuwar.
According to government . . .[restrict]spokesman Nasser Al-Mana, the military accounts department has been asked to head a commission to report on the matter.
In February, the NTC decided that everyone who had taken part in last year’s revolution should be given a cash payment as a “thank-you”: LD 4,000 for married revolutionaries and LD 2,400 or unmarried ones. It was left to local military councils to administer the payments, handing out the cash and deciding who should be paid.
The whole process has been disastrously mismanaged. People who should have been paid, have not; those who should not, have been paid — sparking anger and violence and forcing the government to suspend payments. Last week Al-Mana said that a billion Libyan dinars had been paid to over 450,000 people — a figure way in excess of those who actually fought last year.
Speaking on Wednesday, Al-Mana that the enquiry commission would make sure that all the information provided was correct. It would be looking into the amounts paid and who got the money paid. A report would be produced that would be publically available. It would also recommend what to do in cases of corruption.
Al-Mana added that separate commission had been appointed to monitor officials and those accused of stealing public money. [/restrict]
