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Opposition MPs hold sit-in at port to protest government inaction on grain silo fires


Opposition MPs hold sit-in at port to protest government inaction on grain silo fires

MP Najat Aoun Saliba (center) speaking on behalf of her fellow protesters and several groups at the Port of Beirut on July 24, 2022. (Credit: LBCI screenshot)

BEIRUT — Opposition MPs and relatives of the victims of the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut port blast on Sunday held a sit-in near the Beirut port to protest government inaction to quell weekslong fires at the port’s grain silos.

Here’s what we know:

    • MP Najat Aoun Saliba denounced the measures undertaken by the government as “disappointing” and called for an urgent meeting grouping “the concerned ministers, the Civil Defense and the army” along with a plan to stop the fires blazing at the port grain silos since early July and “inform the Lebanese of the truth.”

    • “The repeated fires are a source of worry for the area’s inhabitants,” Saliba added, warning that they constituted “hazards and [had] harmful effects.”

    • The silos have repeatedly caught fire since early July, reportedly due to the combination of fermented grains and summer heat. The structures, which were damaged during the explosion, have been considered symbolic by members of civil society and the relatives of the blast victims.

    • Despite numerous interventions from firefighting teams, the silos have continued to burn. On Thursday, the Arab University of Beirut and three NGOs specializing in heritage conservation addressed a letter to the prime minister and the minister of culture demanding the silos be considered as a national heritage site.

BEIRUT — Opposition MPs and relatives of the victims of the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut port blast on Sunday held a sit-in near the Beirut port to protest government inaction to quell weekslong fires at the port’s grain silos.Here’s what we know:    • MP Najat Aoun Saliba denounced the measures undertaken by the government as “disappointing” and called for an urgent meeting grouping...