If you are looking for an illegal driving license, a free degree, an open construction permit or wasta for some paper work, Dekkenet el Balad is the place to be. Everything is for sale there even your vote!
I know this may sound shocking to some readers, but everything can be bought in Lebanon with bribes and wasta. In fact, Lebanon today ranks 127th out of 176 countries on the corruption scale, which makes us one of the fifty most corrupt countries in the world. Having said that, Dekkenet el Balad is an initiative by the NGO (Sakker el Dekkene) aimed at fighting
corruption by asking citizens to report acts of bribery they did or witnessed. The Dekkene opened its doors today in Gemmayze.
How does it work?
Sakker el Dekkene wants to fight corruption by asking Lebanese to report acts of briberies they’ve done or witnessed. People can report on the website, on the mobile application or on the call center (76/808080). Data will be made available on the website for everyone, in an attempt to put pressure on the concerned parties.
Moreover and I think this is quite an interesting and daring idea, a delivery car will be driving around and stopping in front of the most corruption administration to collect bribe reports from the public.
Will it succeed?
I think the Sakker el Dekkene initiative has all the ingredients to succeed. There’s a physical shop “Dekkenet el Balad” in the middle of Gemmayze and accessible to all, there’s a website, a hotline (76/808080), a mobile app [iTunes] [Android], a Facebook page [SakkerelDekkene] and a delivery car.
This being said, what’s left is for all the Lebanese to make this initiative work by reporting bribes and fighting corruption anyway they can.
If you wish to read more on this initiative, check their website [here].
