After the Port of Beirut explosion, international bodies, including the World Bank, EU, and UN, assessed the damage and proposed the 3RF framework to guide the reconstruction efforts. Since October 2021, the World Bank has supported Lebanon in drafting a new port sector law and redevelopment plan, focusing on long-term improvements and integration with the city. In this context, France and the French company CMA CGM have shown interest in the Port of Beirut’s reconstruction.
However, the most prominent proposal for the port’s reconstruction primarily relies on previous studies without significant updates or adjustments to the current conditions. It does not introduce a new, long-term project and fails to address the ongoing crisis or incorporate new needs. The plan does not include protections for the silos, which hold significant emotional and symbolic value, nor does it consider opening the port area to the city.
The official approach increasingly seems to aim at restoring the port to its pre-explosion state, disregarding the explosion’s impact. This approach appears to overlook the social and economic value of a sustainable redevelopment, focusing instead on privatization. This risks missing another opportunity for a more sustainable and regionally impactful reconstruction of the Port of Beirut, similar to missed opportunities in the post-civil war reconstruction of downtown Beirut.
Read the full Policy Watch in Arabic.
The fate of Beirut’s port between the World Bank and the French company
31/07/2024
