Administrative immaturity undermines workers rights in state oil company

The Syrian Petroleum Company is unable to resolve the issue of transferring salaries for the General Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries. This has never happened so frequently before; even now, halfway through the month, the salaries haven't been transferred to the employees.

Is the new administration responsible for these emerging problems? Is assigning the task to unqualified individuals the cause?

It seems we are experiencing an administrative adolescence, not yet having reached the necessary maturity. When you bring in people and bestow favors upon them by appointing them to positions they don't deserve, this is the natural outcome.

This statement is addressed to the head of the Central Authority for Control and Inspection, Engineer Amer Al-Ali, who recently made two visits and met with the Minister of Energy, Mohammed Al-Bashir, but failed to raise the issue of appointing individuals without university degrees to positions that required qualifications, a career path, and experience. It is also addressed to Youssef Qablawi, the executive director, who speaks in a mix of English and Arabic, discussing the moon, Mars, and other fantastical concepts beyond our comprehension. Furthermore, it is addressed to the Minister of Energy, who boasts about the absence of crises, considering it an achievement—a common occurrence in any country not under sanctions. This is the simplest problem, yet it is a recurring issue every month.

To make matters worse, the average employee in this institution suffers from delayed salaries, while exceptional bonuses and experts are hired on exorbitant contracts, as if priorities are reversed. Talk of investments and massive contracts with international companies remains mere rhetoric as long as employees in the sector are not paid on time.

If the oil sector is burdened by a heavy legacy, the solution lies not in media slogans, but in guaranteeing workers' rights first and foremost. The monthly recurrence of the crisis is evidence that those at the helm are not up to the task, and that this administrative immaturity is going on for far too long.