Lebanon: Authorities cancel controversial Beirut airport expansion project

Welcome sign installed near Beirut airport in Lebanon, June 22, 2022 (illustration image). AFP - ANWAR AMRO

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

On Thursday (March 30th), the Lebanese authorities cancelled the contract to extend Beirut International Airport following a wave of protests by NGOs and MPs in a country in the midst of an economic collapse.

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The contract for the extension of Beirut International Airport, awarded by mutual agreement and without tender, called for the construction of a new terminal, worth $122 million, to be completed in 2027. "Following the legal controversy that has taken place in the country (...) I declare that I will no longer proceed with the project and consider it null and void," Public Works and Transport Minister Ali Hamié said on Twitter.

Lack of transparency

Mr. Hamié made the announcement just before a scheduled meeting of the Public Works Committee in Parliament on the matter. Several MEPs had denounced the lack of transparency in the award of this contract to the Irish company Daa International and the Lebanese Air Transport (LAT), without going through the public procurement regulatory authority. Local media had reported alleged links between the Lebanese political class and LAT shareholders.

In two joint communiqués, ten NGOs had also expressed their concern about the "abuses (...) that open the door to corruption and nepotism and allow the illegal use of public funds." They had denounced the "violations" of a law on procurement in the public sector, voted in 2021 and welcomed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

A government with reduced powers

Last week, an IMF mission to Beirut insisted on the urgency of implementing this law, which is part of the reforms demanded by the international community for the release of aid to the country. Since 2019, Lebanon has been plunged into a deep economic crisis blamed by a large part of the population on the corruption of the ruling class. The country, without a President of the Republic since 31st October, is led by an interim government with reduced powers.

(

With AFP)

► READ ALSO: Lebanon: a project to extend Beirut airport in full crisis causes an outcry

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Read on on the same topics:

  • Lebanon
  • Transport
  • Aeronautics
  • Architecture and urban planning
  • Finance