The Libyan sector of planning was established in 1951 by an externally funded United Nations supervisory committee but later done away with under Gaddafi. In 2008, there were attempts to reform the planning body, however, it was tainted by corruption and slow implementation.

Issa Twaijr, the former Minister of Planning, talks about the reality of corruption and the planning mistakes that have been perpetuated by the current young government.

The Libyan sector of planning was established in 1951 by an externally funded United Nations supervisory committee but later done away with under Gaddafi. In 2008, there were attempts to reform the planning body, however, it was tainted by corruption and slow implementation.

Issa Twaijr, the former Minister of Planning, talks about the reality of corruption and the planning mistakes that have been perpetuated by the current young government.

Some believe that the presence of a “Ministry of Planning” at an unstable stage is wrong, given the short time and the need to develop quick solutions. 

During crises, we need intense planning. In each case where planning was bypassed, problems and countless complications arose. IThere is strategic planning to solve crises and long-term planning we seek to entrench in the Libyan state.

Some of our problems now arise from dealing with events as reactions. For example, we have provided many proposals for solving the problem of security with strategic planning, but the responses have been that there is no time for planning and that prompt actions should be taken, which has even exacerbated the problem.

The problem of the wounded was resolved only when we commissioned a ministerial committee that embarked on examining the problem and solving it. Although solutions have not been adopted fully, we have achieved good results; the number of the wounded decreased, the loss of money was reduced, and working methods improved.

Whether or not a Ministry of Planning should exist, depends on the nature of the state and its philosophy. In European countries, for example, there is no such ministry, but there are well-established institutions because these countries are fully developed; thus, planning has come to depend on public policies issued by the government, while developing countries have competent ministerial structures.

What are the courses of action you have taken? Have you found cooperation from other ministries?

There was no cooperation at the beginning. The Ministry of Planning (MoP) was subject to the Ministry of Finance, which fully marginalized it, so we started working with some staff and established a ministerial base for planning. The work began when the government, led by Dr. Abdurrahim El-Keib, developed a plan of 10 goals and asked each ministry to form a vision based on these goals and communicate with MoP to frame these visions into strategic plans.

MoP gave attention to the realization of 16 goals that focused on building the department of planning so as to be an influential foundation in society that would develop visions for the future of the state and conduct studies on health, economy, etc. Accordingly, we formed expert committees, which then assessed the situation in various sectors by examining the development plan from 2008 – 2012. We now have preliminary reports and perspectives for each sector; thus, we have integrated data about sectors from 1951 until now.

Moreover, we focused on training many employees to optimally perform MoP tasks, and we developed strategic plans with the help of the International Bank for Statistics and National Accounts, and they are now under implementation. We drew up organizational steps in collaboration with UN organizations to help conduct studies, and also concluded an agreement with the European Union and OECD to cooperate in this field.

Furthermore, we prepared a national indicator guide, which includes about 120 indicators in various sectors. We also followed-up and evaluated the existing projects in various fields, whose value is estimated at 140 billion dinars.

Since MoP is responsible for licensing  projects, we have licensed no less than twelve thousand projects and about two thousand supply contracts and evaluated the projects with a value over 100 million dinars.

To make MoP courses of action a success, it is very important to activate the departments specialized in the provision of the information based on which the studies that will render planning process successful will be conducted. Moreover, some ministries demand more than the required financial authorizations, while others demand authorizations without the completion of relevant technical procedures, which has delayed many projects.

For example, some agencies request the issuing of financial authorizations without the formation of tender committees and directly contract with companies to execute a project, because they are either unfamiliar with the procedures or corrupt. Consequently, some companies encourage corruption, a class lives on it, reports cover it and some agencies conclude new contracts based on incorrect technical measures.

You have talked about some suspicious contracts and referred them to the auditing bureau. What happened to them?

Indeed, some of these contracts include the Tripoli International Airport development project, which faces accusations of corruption and tax evasion.

In fact, we are sure that there is corruption in a lot of projects. This is why we deem it necessary to restructure all projects and the control system, too, in order to put an end to intensifying corruption.

How has MoP dealt with the Economic and Social Development Fund and the associated programs and projects?

The fund constitutes a difficult problem especially since it is presumably the income source of 268,000 families. Solving this problem takes time since it is not easy to abolish investment portfolios that provide financial grants to these families. Therefore, we have left things going on until the formulation of procedures to resolve this matter, and we have embarked on preparing a proposal to be submitted to the General National Conference (GNC) in order to enact a relevant law.

In fact, we have two options, either to stop the disbursement of these grants if GNC decides that beneficiaries are ineligible, or to disburse them based on the profitability of investments as per the legal agreement between the government and citizens.

In addition, the fund investments are neglected and mostly unproductive. They need financial support and some of them should be liquidated to get good financial revenues to cover the value of the investment portfolios.

What about the houses that were demolished under Gaddafi on the pretext of development, and also the projects not related to infrastructure?

It is not a secret for any planning or economic expert that the destruction of such a huge number of buildings, like the “Tuesday market,” which was a major economic pillar in the western region, without immediate solutions was a grave mistake.

We also believe that the Ministry of Housing and Utilities (MoHU) must complete the residential projects it has initiated, while the new projects should be implemented by the private sector, given its quick implementation and limited corruption, after MoHU develops their infrastructure.

I believe that a grave mistake was committed during the formation of the interim government when the “Urban Planning Authority” was disassociated from MoP and associated with MoHU, because planning is an integrated process that must be made within a single entity and should not to be separated.

In the last period, you conducted a demographic survey of various Libyan regions. How was the process and what will you build upon it?

We seek to establish a demographic database according to family cards. We have registered around 966,000 families, in addition to the jobs, schools and health centers of the members of each family in order to benefit from them in the future project of the e-government the cabinet was previously interested in developing.

We will also benefit from the statistics in learning the demographic movement in different areas.

After the end of your term as a minister, what is your advice for the next government?

It is very important to focus on improving administrative work in various sectors because it will be responsible for any development process in the coming period. Therefore, it is very important to give due attention to the training of all staff in order to improve their performance.

It is also important to support small and medium-sized enterprises in a manner that does not harm the “national economy”. Furthermore, they should not pay attention to any ideological or political differences, and “national constants” must be the foundation of government action. I also call upon them to complete the course we embarked on and consider planning as a work approach in all state sectors.