A view of Beirut. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today/File photo)
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Caretaker Public Works Minister Ali Hamieh announced a public auction for scrap metal debris from the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion, expected to "liberate tens of thousands of meters [on the port premises] to prepare them for future investments by the private sector." The public works minister claimed the auction testifies to the Beirut port not being "hostage to local and international political tensions," adding that the resulting investments would boost public funds. Hamieh said the port's monthly revenues exceeded $10 million. Port director Omar Itani added during Tuesday's event that "the tender has become ready on the platforms of the Public Procurement Authority and the Beirut Port Administration." On Monday, blast victims' relatives held their monthly vigil commemorating the tragedy that killed more than 230 people, injured more than 6,500 and destroyed swathes of the capital. Three years on, the port blast probe continues to stall.
The League of Public Administration Employees scheduled a protest outside the Grand Serail tomorrow, coinciding with the caretaker cabinet's review of the 2024 budget. The public sector employees demanded improved compensation and complete or partial salary dollarization, criticizing, what they claimed were, inadequate salaries allocated for them in the budget. The union also denounced a planned 1-percentage point increase to the Value Added Tax.
Journalist Mariam Majdouline Laham confirmed to L’Orient Today that she had been summoned for a hearing today before the Justice Ministry criminal investigation department, possibly linked to a social media post from July criticizing a Sunni religious court authority. Laham said she intends to attend the hearing but was not informed of the reason for the summons. In July, the journalist said that the President of the Sunni Court of Beirut, Mohammad Assaf, was “not free of suspicions in the case of the theft of Sunni endowment property.” Editors’ syndicate head Joseph Kossaifi said the syndicate holds a firm position that journalists summoned for their publications should only appear before the Court of Printed Materials. Last month Amnesty International launched a campaign calling for the amendment of defamation laws after journalists were repeatedly summoned over defamation charges. In July, Lebanese journalist Dima Sadek was sentenced to a year in prison over her comments critical toward the Free Patriotic Movement.
Crowds formed at Vehicle Registration Centers a day after they reopened following a second monthslong closure interrupting the brief partial resumption of operations in April. The reopening reportedly follows discussions between the Traffic Management Center and Inkript, a company specializing in IT security for governments and financial institutions. In April, similar crowds formed at vehicle registration centers when they reopened after more than six months of closure amid a corruption investigation that led to the mass arrest of officials.
The BlomInvest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell back below 50 points to a seven-month low, indicating a contraction in activity, after the indicator’s July results showed an expansion for the second time in a decade. Blom Bank researcher and analyst Stephanie Aoun, as cited in the BlomInvest report, links the decline to the end of a tourist-laden summer season and political uncertainty. In June, the PMI reached a ten-year high with its first uptick since August 2022. The PMI surveys private sector companies’ new orders, output, employment, suppliers’ delivery time and stocks of purchases.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Meet the e-bike company peddling a revolution in urban transportation”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz