Firefighters at the National Safety Department of Tripoli (NSDT) have expressed shock and disappointment over the purchase of unusable firefighting equipment by state authorities.
Safety boots were distributed to several fire service stations in Tripoli in June, but they failed to meet the required standards from the first firefighting task. Pictures released by the NSDT showed great damage done to the boots after a firefighting action carried out by the Civil Defence Office of Souq Al-Juma district. The firefighters were so lucky to avoid burns as the soles of the boots melted because of the heat!
Questions were raised upon the suspicious and quick disbursal of the gear, which was only imported in Ramadan (June) and distributed before Eid al-fitr, i.e. less than a month.
It is thought to be one of the methods used for corruption and embezzlement by "Dawaesh of public money," which locally means public money looters.
The National Safety Department of Tripoli urged the Central Security of Tripoli to intervene immediately and investigate the corruption.
In another case of corruption, the NSDT reported that officials at the National Safety Department are racing to import 7000 fire suits from a company in the UAE at a cost of USD 7 million. The NSDT claimed that no call for tender was announced to pick the best price and quality.
