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Mikati letter indicates southern port silo block will be preserved as memorial


Mikati letter indicates southern port silo block will be preserved as memorial

A view shows the collapsed northern section of the Beirut grain silos, damaged in the August 2020 port blast, in Beirut on Aug. 23, 2022. (Credit: Issam Abdallah/Reuters)

BEIRUT — Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati indicated Tuesday that the remaining Beirut port silos will be preserved as a memorial and a demolition decree issued by the government in March will be revoked.

Here’s what we know:

    • Mikati’s decision was delivered in a letter, seen by L’Orient Today, that was signed by the caretaker premier and sent to caretaker Public Works Minister Ali Hamieh.

    • The decision came following the collapse of the Beirut port silos’ northern block on Tuesday morning. Its collapse sent up a cloud of dust and left behind the southern block, which consists of 12 silos believed to be stable.

    • In the letter seen by L’Orient Today, the prime minister called on Hamieh “to preserve the southern block of the Beirut port silos and safeguard it as a memorial commemorating the memory of the port martyrs.”

    • Mikati added that a demolition order announced in March would be reversed after reviewing the ministerial committee’s report, which cites a technical study assuring the stability of the southern silos, explaining that “the tilt rates of the silos’ southern block are normal and are affected by the natural and seasonal conditions, the temperature changes, and the sun’s direction.”

    • Experts had said that the collapse of the northern block, where fermented grains had been ablaze for over a month, was “inevitable,” as the structure was beyond repair following the Beirut port explosion on Aug. 4, 2020. Experts have also previously said that the silos’ southern block is stable and should not be affected by the collapse of the northern block.  

BEIRUT — Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati indicated Tuesday that the remaining Beirut port silos will be preserved as a memorial and a demolition decree issued by the government in March will be revoked.Here’s what we know:    • Mikati’s decision was delivered in a letter, seen by L’Orient Today, that was signed by the caretaker premier and sent to caretaker Public Works...