Unity, economy top priority for new Syria: Damascus governor

DAMASCUS

The foremost priorities for Syria's reconstruction in the post-Assad era are the restoration of national unity and the attraction of investments to rejuvenate the economy, the newly-appointed Damascus governor has said.

“Among the major challenges [facing the new leadership] is a major mistrust between the public and government institutions that were seen as serving their own interests,” Maher Marwan told the Turkish media.

He underlined the need to work on building trust through several solutions, including enhancing the efficiency of government institutions and monitoring their work.

The Damascus governor said the new leadership will work to attract local and foreign investments and provide facilities to business owners.

“It is also important to work to create job opportunities for young men and women in Damascus and other provinces and solve the fuel crisis in the near future.”

Nearly 95 percent of the country’s civil servants returned to their work, he said, stressing that raising their salaries is a main priority for the new Syrian administration. The governor said salaries currently range between $15 and $20.

“Efforts are underway to develop a new salary scale that is appropriate to the circumstances, and salaries may increase by up to 400 percent next month, which will contribute to improving the standard of living,” he added.

Touching upon the national unity, the governor said, “We are seeking to restore Syria as a unified country and we need to strengthen societal cohesion," the governor stressed.

[HH] ‘Syria wants better relations with Israel’

In a separate interview with U.S. public radio network NPR on Dec. 27, Marwan said that the government wants to facilitate cordial relations between Israel and Syria

Saying that he is speaking on behalf of Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, Marwan said that it was "natural" that Israel had concerns about the new Syrian government.

“We have no fear towards Israel and our problem is not with Israel. And we don't want to meddle in anything that will threaten Israel's security or any other country's security."

“We want peace and we do not want to be an opponent to Israel or an opponent to anyone, he said, calling on the U.S. to facilitate better relations with Israel.