Chronology

1998

1. February
2. March
3. June
4. July
5. August
6. October
7. November
8. December

1. January 1998

   • 11 Jan 98:
     Former Health Minister Joseph Hashem said that payment to finance the return of the displaced should be accompanied by a new mechanism to prevent further squandering by the government.
     He claimed that LL331 billion have already been wasted and pointed out that the amount of money remaining from treasury bills and previous budgets dedicated to the return of the displaced was between $200million and $220million.

   • 12 Jan 98:
     After his meeting with the Maronite League Pierre Helou said he was surprised that the 1998 budget bill had not allotted any funds to assist the return of the displaced.

   • 15 Jan 98:
     Rafik Hariri promised to disclose plans to settle the problem of displaced after the Eid al Fitr holiday and defended the defended the government reconstruction and development Chouf.
     At al Iftar of the Iqlim el Kharroub community, Hariri pledged that a comprehensive solution for the displaced, including the means of financing, would be revealed after the holiday.
     Council for development and reconstruction president Nabil Jisr told the audience that the CDR had achieved considerable progress in the area.
     He listed development projects including the construction of two schools.
     A Saudi-funded $1.2million project to build a primary school in Dibbiyeh has been put to tender.
     Jisr promised that 75-bed hospital in Sibline would be inaugurated in May, as scheduled. The $10million project, which is being funded by the Saudi Arabian government and Saudi Fund for Development, involves $6.2million in construction and $3.9m for the new hospital equipment.

   • 21 Jan 98:
     Jumblatt failed to show up in parliament for the budget debate to highlight his objection to tax proposal. His opposition was also echoed through a statement by his Progressive Socialist Party, which said that it could never support a budget that would inflict greater burden on the majority of people.

   • 24 Jan 98:
     The head of the Maronite League quoted prime minister as saying that a new initiative to speed up the return of the war displaced will be announced after parliament ends its debate of the fiscal budget.
     He said that Hariri pledged that a beginning of a solution for the issue of the displaced as well as providing funds for it, will be settled once the parliament is done with the budget debate.

   • 26 Jan 98:
     A long awaited meeting between emigrant affairs minister Talal Arslan and Maronite Patriarch proved an excellent affair said sources, as two discussed topics ranging from the return of the displaced, the politic of the diaspora and the necessity of Christian-Druze coexistence.
     Arslan described his consultation with Hariri, last week, over funding development, and the return of the displaced as positive, but noted that most parliamentary blocs and political parties were represented in the cabinet, and therefore familiar with the details of the plans on the table.

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