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  • A new WTF in Lebanon (Car Registration)

So my wife got into a small accident and during the exchange of car registration and vehicle insurance the car registration card got lost.

After the usual Lebanon run around to get a small thing done I ended the journey, well I'm still at the naf3a.

Getting the last point before they print the replacement card they say I got a parking ticket. So I'm like, okay, I'll pay it. But of course I can't pay there so I go to Western Union and pay it there.

It was 23k. And during this time I'm thinking, why didn't my wife tell me. Like wtf, I gotta ask her, maybe it flew off the window. So as I'm waiting in the naf3a now, I'm looking at the details of the ticket and it's in Beirut.

1. We live in Bekaa
2. We never drive this car to Beirut

So now I'm thinking, is someone using my license plate?

Then I look some more, the ticket is from 2014. I registered the car in 2017 and they gave me a number from "inkad" so the ticket is from the previous owner. So...WTF! Imagine if the previous owner got a ticket way worse than that!

I'm not mad because it was a small fee but I am upset that this kind of ridiculous shit happens. I mean I'm sure it has happened before. What a damn shame.
They should force the owner to pay the tickets while trying to making his car as Inkad, totally absurd.
is it a parking ticket? I am pretty sure you can't do inkad unless you pay all parking tickets (you can do inkad with speed tickets)
I couldn't pay inkad a month ago until I payed an old parking ticket

Anyway If it was way more than that you can refuse to pay it. You could have spoken to a judge to cancel it.
I got a call that I have a speed ticket dating 2012. I told the judge (at ma7kamet l ser in adliyeh, I think this is what its called) no one informed me about the ticket so he cancelled it and I didn't pay anything
Screw them and their mediocrity.
The line has to be drawn somewhere.
beezer wrote I'm not mad because it was a small
It doesn't matter, these things make you feel that you never know when you will be randomly hit by something totally unfair.
It's like in war, when you are thankful every day in which you are not hit by a bomb, like your neighbor was.
So people sit and say hamdella we are still alive and keep their heads low.

This is not the environment that fosters progress.
An environment where people are made to feel safe, appreciated, protected, cared for, this will bring progress, investment, etc.

Anyway this is my theory.
But I think it's more than a theory, it's logic and common sense.
Not addressing this directly to anyone but this is the kind of shit that will keep happening if you don't switch your political affiliations and start voting differently in 3 and a half years

Had a different incident at the ministry of education... they misspelled my name and had to wait a whole month for a paper to get done because the guy that is supposed to sign it was on leave. A WHOLE MONTH !!!
The worst part is they kept telling me come next week, come next week, come next week....
Toufic wroteNot addressing this directly to anyone but this is the kind of shit that will keep happening if you don't switch your political affiliations and start voting differently in 3 and a half years

Had a different incident at the ministry of education... they misspelled my name and had to wait a whole month for a paper to get done because the guy that is supposed to sign it was on leave. A WHOLE MONTH !!!
The worst part is they kept telling me come next week, come next week, come next week....
Really tired of this whining.
nas93 wrote
Toufic wroteNot addressing this directly to anyone but this is the kind of shit that will keep happening if you don't switch your political affiliations and start voting differently in 3 and a half years

Had a different incident at the ministry of education... they misspelled my name and had to wait a whole month for a paper to get done because the guy that is supposed to sign it was on leave. A WHOLE MONTH !!!
The worst part is they kept telling me come next week, come next week, come next week....
Really tired of this whining.
What do you mean by tired of this whining? We deserve to get our papers done as fast as possible, plus what Toufic said is right we need to vote for other people, we got screwed by them over and over for a long time, we have no rights and you're still saying that you are tired of this whining? Come on man!
OK if not whining then I suggest we should do something to make thing better.
I've had a paper at the Ministry of Energy for 4 weeks because the guy who's office it was in only came 2 times during those 4 weeks and didn't even sign the damn thing.

Who do we complain to in such issues to actually get things done?
beezer wrote Who do we complain to in such issues to actually get things done?
I don't know. There might be a place where you can complain.

The delays are a real issue. I created a company in the UK. It took me 2 hours to do it online, and cost me less than $30. They send you letters to your postal address and then you can do all your formalities online (statements, etc.). I heard that it takes several months here.

I think the change can come from the top.

What I would like to see is parties getting elected based on action plans and concrete promises, not ideals.

Ideals are nice but ideals are not going to improve the standards of life in this country. Ideals and pretty words are not going to reduce pollution, traffic, improve government efficiency. Goals and plans followed by action will do it.

I guess what can be done today is educating people and working towards such options becoming a reality.

Also there is much room for improvement for living condition. For example, we need more parks. We need 24h electricity. Various NGOs work on such issues. In Zahle, they managed to have 24h electricity somehow. So there is already something to build upon, get inspired, or take example from. I would even say, there is hope!

What else can be done?

By the way I read the news, a journalist in Egypt received 2 years of prison for complaining publicly about sexual harassment.
So thank you Egypt for making Lebanon look good! We have one thing to be positive about today!
(This is very bad news for Egypt by the way. The worst thing you can do to victims is punish them for speaking up and make an example of them. It is interesting how it contrast with what it happening in the USA)

People do work for this country, sometimes they pay it with a very high price. There are good things in this country and we have many persons, most of them unknown, to thank for.
4 days later
Let's try to steer the discussion as much as we can towards ways to improve.
Change is possible, therefore there is hope!