Hizbullah questions government`s estimates on cost of reconstruction

Hizbullah questions government`s estimates on cost of reconstruction
Party says it sent 1,400 volunteers to examine damage
Source: Daily Star, 16-2-2007
BEIRUT: Hizbullah accused the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Thursday of deliberately inflating the cost of reconstruction after the summer 2006 war with "Israel". Armed with charts and tables, senior Hizbullah officials told reporters during a news conference at the Press Federation that the entire cost of the war did not exceed $1.51 billion, compared to the government`s figure of $2.8 billion.
Ali Fayad, president of the Hizbullah-affiliated Consultative Center for Studies and Development, accused Siniora`s government of exaggerating the cost of the conflict in order to embarrass the resistance.
"We have sent 1,400 volunteers to survey all the damage that occurred during the war and we found out that the government manipulated the cost," Fayad said. "It is related to the political attitude of the government toward the resistance."
Two weeks after the August 14 cease-fire, the Council for Development and Reconstruction estimated the cost of the war at $3.5 billion but subsequently revised the figure to $2.8 billion.
Fayad said that the party commissioned the survey to set the record straight, adding that the study was based on scientific and practical findings.
"In some instances," he said, "the government exaggerated the cost of some infrastructure six times above the real value."
The Daily Star attempted to contact the Finance Ministry for comment but officials said that they would respond to Hizbullah`s figures on Friday.
"It became abundantly clear that the exaggerated cost of war is not an innocent incident. The government wanted to give the impression that "Israel" cannot be fought because the consequences will be high," Fayad said.
He added that the team surveyed all of the commercial institutions that were either damaged or destroyed by "Israeli" attacks during the conflict.
"The cost of damages to these institutions did not exceed $567 million," Fayad said.
He added that the cost of destroyed and damages buildings were set at $800 million ($150 million for the damaged buildings and $650 million for the destroyed buildings).
"We did not present this study to the government but we will distribute it to all public institutions," Fayad said.
He added that Hizbullah did not conduct the survey immediately after the war in order to avoid interfering with the government`s work.
The head of the government`s Higher Relief Committee told LBC television on Thursday that the government had not finalized its estimates of the cost of the war on economic institutions.