大爆発被害者に寄付のセイロン紅茶、大統領が側近に配布　レバノン

【ベイルートＡＦＰ＝時事】レバノンのミシェル・アウン大統領が、首都ベイルートで発生した大爆発の被害者にとスリランカから寄付された紅茶を、被害者ではなく自身の護衛隊の家族に配っていたことが発覚し、激しい非難にさらされている。（写真は資料写真）
　ベイルートで先月４日に発生した大爆発では中心地が大きな被害を受け、１９０人以上が死亡、数千人が負傷した。同国は今でも、平時における史上最悪の災害となった大爆発の影響に苦しんでいる。
　爆発の原因はレバノン当局の怠慢であり、同国における数多くの汚職の一例だと批判されている。
　スリランカは、大爆発直後に真っ先に支援の手を差し伸べた国の一つだった。レバノンでは、多くのスリランカ人が家政婦として働いている。
　レバノン大統領府は先月２４日、アウン氏がスリランカ大使と面会した際の写真を公開。同大使の発言を引用し、スリランカが「ベイルートの爆発の被害者に、１６７５キロのセイロン紅茶を寄付した」と明らかにした。
　その後、寄付された紅茶の行方について国内メディアとソーシャルメディアで疑問の声が上がったことを受け、大統領府は８日、アウン氏はスリランカ大統領に感謝を示す書簡を送ったと説明。その中で大統領は「セイロン紅茶の贈り物は軍が受け取った」「大統領護衛隊の家族に配られた」と書いたという。
　これに対し、ソーシャルメディア上では批判が噴出し、ツイッターでは「紅茶泥棒」や「セイロン紅茶」のハッシュタグがトレンドに入った。
　爆発発生後に辞任した元議員のポーラ・ヤコビアン氏は、「紅茶はレバノン市民、特に爆発の影響を受けた人への贈り物だった。もちろん、必要としない人に向けたものではない」とし、「自分の側近に配るのは、恥ずべき行為だ」と非難した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/09/11-12:30）

Lebanon's President Michel Aoun has come under fire after it emerged that tea donated by Sri Lanka for victims of the Beirut blast was distributed instead to families of his presidential guards.
Critics see it as yet another example of official corruption in a country reeling from the August 4 explosion that killed more than 190 people, wounded thousands and ravaged central Beirut.
Sri Lanka, many of whose expat community in Lebanon work as housemaids, was one of several nations that rushed to show support in the wake of Lebanon's worst peace-time disaster.
The president's office on August 24 released a picture of Aoun receiving the Sri Lankan ambassador, and quoted her as saying Colombo had donated 1,675 kilos (3,685 pounds) of Ceylon tea to those affected by the Beirut blast.
After Lebanese media and social media asked what happened to the donation, it issued a second statement on Tuesday.
The presidency said Aoun had written to his Sri Lankan counterpart to thank him for a gift of Ceylon tea that had been received by the army... and distributed to the families of soldiers in the presidential guard.
Social media erupted in criticism, with the hashtags tea thief and Ceylon tea trending on Twitter.
The tea was sent to the Lebanese, particularly those affected by the explosion. Of course it wasn't a present for those who don't need it, wrote Paula Yacoubian, a former MP who resigned after the blast many blame on official neglect.
Distributing the aid to your entourage is shameful, she wrote.
Another user quipped: The excuse that it was a present for the president is even worse than the sin itself.
Beside the tea controversy, social media users have also been up in arms over the fate of 12 tonnes of fish that Mauritania sent in mid-August.
After widespread calls to know its whereabouts, the army said Monday it had received the fish and stored it according to public safety standards.
It was talking to several associations preparing meals for those in need to cook it and distribute it to those affected by the port blast.
On Twitter, yet another user made light of the food aid controversy.
The presidential palace, or the palace of the people, invites you to a free lunch on Sunday, she wrote.
Open buffet on Mauritanian fish, and open bar on Ceylon tea.