As the struggle in Lebanon continued, the central government was completely paralyzed and found itself no longer able to deliver the essential services required by the Lebanese people. Slowly but progressively, the Lebanese Forces began to assume the responsibility for providing these services: transportation, educational assistance, economic support, health assistance, communication/entertainment, commodities purity assistance, regulation to prevent price gouging, refugee assistance and emergency civic action.

Transportation: Even in the midst of the turmoil in Lebanon, commerce and business have continued in East Beirut and the free region. Consequently, our road network, constructed before the fighting erupted and largely unimproved since, is no longer adequate. The Lebanese Forces has taken an active role in trying to improve the transportation conditions in free Lebanon by providing mass transit to alleviate crowding on the road system and to ensure that people without car can still move freely. Rates were subsidized in order to be affordable by low-income citizens.

Educational System: The Social Welfare Agency of the LF provided 30% subsidy on textbooks for students. For extremely needy students, this subsidy may rise to as much as 100%. In addition, generous support grants for tuition are provided to the needy at all levels of education.

Economic Support (welfare): The Social Welfare Agency attempted to provide direct economic assistance to needy families, irrespective of religion or family connection, throughout the free area. The full growth of this organization was hampered by lack of funds, but we have developed several direct support programs in which our friends overseas may help us. In parallel, all those who qualified for assistance and who were unemployed were aided in their search for employment by the agency. If they declined to work in a suitable job for no valid reason, they ceased to qualify for assistance.

Health Assistance: The soaring cost of medicines, professional medical services, and hospitalization has threatened Lebanon's traditional level of medical care, once one of the highest outside Europe and North America. The Social Welfare Agency helped defray the cost of rooms, treatment, and medication to families requiring assistance. Most assistance were at or near the 100% level.

Communication/Entertainment: One of the most successful enterprises has been the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), established in 1985. LBC's television channel has captured 81 percent of the TV viewing audience in both East and West Beirut with popular mini-series, weekly series, and classical movies. A second television station C33 opened mid-September 1988 to feature French- and English-language programming. In addition to its outstanding TV channels, other Lebanese Forces media included the all-rock radio station "Magic 102," the all-news station Radio Free Lebanon, and the weekly magazine Al-Massira. The Lebanese Forces saw these media as important symbols of freedom. Editorially, all of them were committed to and constantly support plurality, and diversity, and the goals of united, free, and democratic Lebanon.

Commodities purity assurance: The Lebanese Forces organized Popular Committees have checked the quality of commodities entering the free area. For example, they have regularly checked meat for contamination since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.

Regulation to prevent price gouging: the Lebanese Forces organized Popular Committees to monitor merchants' prices of basic commodities (e.g., bread, sugar) to ensure that they are sold at the government mandate price. This program had been implemented in times of rapid inflation only, and then for limited periods, the LF being ardent advocates of a free-market economy.

Refugee assistance: The Refugee Management Office of the LF was in charge with addressing the housing, medical aid, and other infrastructural support required by the refugees in the free area. these refugees, numbering about 50,000 families, amount to one in five families in free Lebanon.

Emergency civic action: The Regional Development Agency was called upon to provide emergency civic action support. It provides men and machinery to clear roads blocked by snow, repair or replace bridges washed out, restore heat if power is cut off, or provide potable water if it becomes polluted.



Taken from Lebanese-Forces.org