Construction work along the Naqoura coast was halted on June 21, by order of the Ministry of Public Works. (Photo courtesy of Green Southerners Association)
A campaign launched by environmental NGOs halted works on the Naqoura coast.
Images circulating on social media showed diggers and backhoes (excavating equipment) at work on the beach in the South, raising fears of a new environmental scandal.
Members of the association Green Southerners became concerned that this was the beginning of a new housing project that would encroach on the coastline.
“We have set up a green observatory to monitor potential violations that could impact wildlife and biodiversity. That’s how we received a report about these works. When we questioned the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, we discovered that it had issued a backfilling permit,” said Hisham Younes, chairman of Green Southerners.
According to NAHNOO director Mohammad Ayoub, , a private landowner who decided to backfill his land plot which had been eroded by the waves, is behind the construction works.
“He believes that the sea is encroaching on his rights,” Ayoub said.
As Younes pointed out, the problem is that the project contravenes Law no. 444 of 2002 on the protection of the environment, as well as decree no. 8633 of 2012, which requires an environmental impact study to be carried out prior to such a project.
Worse still, added Ayoub, Lebanon ratified the Madrid Protocol for Integrated Coastal Zone Management in the Mediterranean in 2017, which prohibits construction on the coastal strip within a width of 100m.
But when environmental activists first presented arguments to the ministry to have the permit withdrawn, they were met with radio silence.
The NGOs immediately filed a complaint against the Public Works and the Environment Ministries.
‘Swift and effective action’
In response, Green Southerners launched an online campaign with the hashtag #TheSeaisOurs, inspired by a poem by Mohammad Darwish, with the support of the Coast for All, a coalition of eight environmental associations, including NAHNOO.
The online campaign quickly gained momentum and attracted the support of MPs like Inaya Ezzedine (Amal Movement) and Halimé El Kaakour (LNA, Social Democratic Party).
“This sea is ours, and I give my full support to the citizens who are defending Naqoura beach,” Kaakour wrote in a press release on June 18, calling on the environment and public works ministries to withdraw the permit “immediately.”
The same day, Rahif Ramadan, the prosecutor of appeal of South Lebanon demanded a halt to the work “to check whether it complies with the law and does not violate environmental criteria.”
The next day, caretaker Environment Minister Nasser Yassin asked caretaker Public Works Minister Ali Hamieh to stop the construction work.
On June 21, environmental NGOs noted Hamieh’s decision to halt the work and withdraw the permit.
Ayoub says the recent mobilization by the Coast for All coalition to save the Abou Ali beach in Kfar Abida and against a similar project in Damour changed the balance of power.
“The success of these actions has given us power. We were immediately followed and invited on TV talk shows. This made our action to save the Naqoura beach effective and swift,” he said, in reference to the growing public awareness around the “successive scandals” along the Lebanese coastline.
Younes also highlighted the “growing interest of the Lebanese people in preserving the environment,” which is behind the successful mobilization for Naqoura beach.
“We’re going to keep a close eye on the technical investigation that the ministry needs to carry out so as to assess the extent of the damage caused by the works in order to mitigate it as much as possible,” said Younes.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour. Translation by Joelle El Khoury.
