In response to the article of Al Akhbar newspaper, published today, Thursday, concerning the grant that the Regie had offered to the students abroad, it’s President and Director General intends to clarify the following:
“It is known that during 2020 the Parliament has enacted a law allowing public and private institutions and establishments to contribute to fighting Corona Virus pandemic. Thus the Regie took the initiative and offered the sum of one million dollars in cash to support students abroad wishing to return to Lebanon after they were left stranded. Therefore, the money was transferred to the account of the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
However, after the decline of the pandemic and the reopening of borders and airports, the grant was reappointed to be used to support defaulted students in paying off their tuition. In fact, the Regie has never interfered the mechanism of distributing of the grant nor the names of beneficiaries; which is the sole responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
As per why not to allocate the sum to the children of farmers; that is because the said money is part of the Lebanese Treasury’s share and the Government may spend it the way it deems appropriate. We do not believe that we spare any efforts with farmers, as the Regie offers 100 scholarships to children of farmers each year. Moreover, tobacco farming is the only agriculture that is supported in Lebanon.
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