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Abbas also spoke of other reforms he and Fayad initiated, confirming the existence of the monopolies during the Oslo period. "We canceled the fuel monopoly and the PA's income increased by $6 million a month - during the PA's existence, $72 million was being stolen annually," he said.
Another issue Abbas addressed is the security people's wages, which were previously paid in cash to the heads of mechanisms, to be distributed at their discretion. Abbas and Fayad managed to change this in the police and preventive security subordinate to Abbas, but encountered stiff opposition when they tried to touch operations in Arafat's control. "Citizens get their wages in the bank. That's how they can get check books and a loan. Why can some policemen get their wages in a bank and others in bags? I was told, `how can we reveal the names of our men to the Israelis or the banks?' But everybody knows the Israelis and Americans already have all the lists, they've been officially transferred to them. They told me the American navy also gets money in sacks. I'm sorry to say this is a lame excuse and a cover-up of theft. So far the the issue has not been solved and the result is that interested parties and people receiving illicit benefits are still in business."
Abbas revealed that following the attempts to regulate security operations and pay wages directly to policemen, the Palestinian treasury offices in Gaza were broken into and vandalized. Two demonstrations were held, calling Finance Minister Fayad a traitor. "Fayad was very sad when he was attacked. He told me `they can call me anything but two things: traitor or spy.'"
[How do they say in the USA? "It's The Economy, Stupid . . ."]
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