Palestinian Authority implements salary reform

Complying with European donor requests, the Palestinian Authority (PA) implemented a reform Thursday by depositing the salaries of its security officers into personal bank accounts. Until now, salaries were handed over to security chiefs for distribution. 

European donor governments have been pressing the PA to reform its salary distribution process as a way to reduce the power of the security chiefs and the theft of millions of dollars from the PA. 

According to Haaretz, an unnamed security chief had 7,000 fake employees on his payroll. The chiefs would use salaries to control their staff by withholding payment from those who disobeyed. 

International aid accounts for 60 percent of the annual budget of the PA. Some of the PA’s largest supporters have warned of a possible drop in financial aid unless serious measures are taken to resolve internal corruption and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. — (menareport.com) 

© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)