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The World Bank announced, on Saturday, September 5, 2020, that it had informed the Lebanese government to stop financing the Bisri dam construction project, which was aimed at providing drinking water to Beirut, and that it was rejected by environmental activists and civic groups, because the authorities “did not comply” with the preconditions to begin construction.
The financing loan for this project was approved in 2014 and the dam was to be built in the Bisri Valley, thirty kilometers south of the capital, to supply drinking water to 1.6 million people in the Greater Beirut area. .
Activists, farmers and residents of the region launched a campaign against the project years ago and demanded that the World Bank cancel it, as it would have resulted from the confiscation of a large amount of agricultural land, the felling of thousands of trees and the removal of the remarkable biological diversity that characterizes this region, as well as the construction of the dam and the lake on an active seismic fault. .
In a statement on Saturday morning, the World Bank announced that it had informed the Lebanese government of its “decision to cancel unspent sums of the water supply increase project (Bisri dam project) due to non-compliance with the elements which constitute the preconditions to start building the dam. “
He explained that “the value of the canceled part of the loan amounts to 244 million dollars and the cancellation will take effect immediately.”
The cost of the dam project is $ 617 million, including $ 474 million from the World Bank. It was supposed to become the second largest dam in Lebanon, with a capacity of 125 million cubic meters, which would meet in a lake of approximately 450 hectares.
Last June, the World Bank partially suspended the project, which activists saw as a victory for them.
The World Bank was awaiting a response from the Lebanese government on issues of “concern” which considered preconditions including finalizing the “development of the ecological compensation plan” as part of the environmental and social assessment of the project. These include reforestation and fire risk reduction, and finalization of “maintenance and operating arrangements” and “contractor presence on site” on September 4.
The statement clarified that the Lebanese government did not address these issues as required, and “as of the agreed deadline of September 4, 2020, the World Bank has not received satisfactory evidence that the three required items have been met.” Therefore, the Foundation decided to cancel the project.
After years of movements against the project, the popular movement that Lebanon has witnessed for several months since November 17 has revitalized the opposition campaign to build the Bisri dam. Various movements were organized, from sit-ins and demonstrations to the assault on the project site.
The World Bank is reassured by the continuation of the opponents, confirming the existence of other reforestation projects near the area, and also assures that the necessary measures will be taken to avoid seismic risks.
The decision to cancel the project comes at a time when Lebanon is experiencing successive crises, from an accelerated economic collapse and a difficult life situation to the devastating explosion of the port of Beirut, which caused economic losses ranging between 6.7 and 8.1 billion euros. dollars, according to World Bank estimates.
In light of the current situation, the World Bank affirmed its willingness to work with the Lebanese government to determine how to use the amounts from the Bisri dam project “in the most effective way possible to meet the new needs of the Lebanese people.”
