German firms put forward proposal to rebuild Beirut port
Representatives of several German companies on Friday outlined a multi-billion-dollar plan to rebuild the port of Beirut and surrounding neighborhoods that had been devastated by a massive explosion last year.
The horrific Aug. 4 explosion of nearly 3,000 tons of
ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive chemical used in fertilizers, killed 211
people and injured more than 6,000. The material had been stored at a port
warehouse for years. The blast — one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in
history — badly worsened Lebanon’s economic crisis that saw hundreds of
thousands plunged into sudden poverty.
Several countries are said to be interested in rebuilding
the port and the surrounding areas, including Turkey and China, but Germany’s
consortium, led by Hamburg Port Consulting and Colliers, was the first to visit
Lebanon with a plan in hand that they presented to Lebanese officials.
Beirut’s port, with an area of 1.2 million square meters
(12.9 million square feet), is by far the largest in Lebanon, a tiny nation of
5 million on a strategic Mediterranean crossroads between Asia and Europe.
But the proposal to rebuild the port cannot proceed until a
new government is formed in Lebanon and like most international donors and
foreign companies, the German delegation made it clear no money would be spent
in Lebanon before major reforms are undertaken to fight widespread corruption.
“Money flows where trust goes,” Suheil Mahayni, managing
director at Hamburg Port Consulting, told reporters at the end of the visit. A
new government would need to ensure “full transparency so that the money
invested is spent to the benefit of the Lebanese people.”
Alia Fares of the Lebanese German Council for Archaeology
and Culture said the study includes spending $300 million on restoring historic
neighborhoods surrounding the port.
After Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war ended, a private company
was in charge of rebuilding Beirut’s downtown, leading to high rises with
multi-million dollars apartments and restaurants and shops out of reach of many
poor Lebanese.
The office of Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab
said he met with the German delegation on Thursday and received its
“preliminary study on how to reactivate the port of Beirut for trade and
tourism.” There were no further details.
Lebanon’s government resigned just days after the port
blast. In October, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri was named to form a new
Cabinet but has failed to do so since amid political bickering. The country
meanwhile has slid deeper into crisis, with the national currency losing around
85% of its value.
According to the study, a total of $7.2 billion will be
spent over the years to rebuild the port, nearby residential areas, outdoor
facilities, technical infrastructure, land reclamation and a new beach. The
project will make $30 billion of indirect profitability and create 50,000
permanent jobs over a period of 30 years.
International donors demand that Lebanon implement economic
changes in order to get loans and grants pledged at the CEDRE economic
conference in Paris in April 2018. They have pledged $11 billion for Lebanon
but the money is still blocked as they seek assurances the funds will be well
spent in the corruption-plagued country.
Germany’s Ambassador to Lebanon Andreas Kindl said there is
a clear international commitment there would be no financial support for any
reconstruction before there are “substantial reforms, credible reforms,
economic and political reforms.”
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