The so called Palestinian Foreign Minister and government spokesperson Riyad Al-Malki says the Palestinian Authority (PA) will not back away from a new rule that requires Palestinians to pay old utility bills before they can be issued government documents.Speaking with Ma'an by phone from the Jordanian capital, Amman, he said the PA wants to achieve three things with the rule, which is called "clearance.:"
Please do not laugh
First: we want to recover the amount of 500 million dollars that are lost annually due to lack of commitment by the citizens to pay dues.
Second: we want to recover from the culture of non-payment and make citizens get used to paying their dues.
Third: we want to achieve equality and justice among all citizens who pay and those who do not pay … We can not make one citizen pay the bill of water and electricity and others not to pay."
Al-Maliki said the PA would not resort to garnishing Palestinians' wages to extract the cost of utility bills.
Asked about the trade unions who are striking in protest of the rule, he said, "We in the government encourage union work as a present, but must not use union work this way and resort to strike as a first step."
He criticized "trade unionists and some who described the government move as an occupation … They will be brought to the public prosecution for investigations on such serious statements, which did not indicate any sense of patriotism."
From Maan News
Remember : Do Not Laugh
No comments:
Post a Comment