technician inspecting the cable car infrastructure overlooking the bay of Jounieh. (Credit: DR)
Contrary to what was announced earlier on Thursday, the Jounieh Telepherique, which has been closed for three months following an incident at the end of December 2023, will not be reopening its doors today.
Despite the green light given by the government on March 19 for its reopening, provided that all the necessary repair work has been carried out, the announced reopening will not take place before a new meeting of the caretaker government. Any reopening requires government authorization, which is not expected to meet until early next week, due to the Easter celebrations for the Catholic communities, which will last until Monday. After tests on Wednesday, the cable car was up and running on Thursday, but its cabins were running empty up to Harissa, to make sure it was working properly and awaiting the required official sesame.
The Lebanese Cable Car and Tourist Expansion Company, responsible for this means of air transport, was considered not responsible for what happened on Dec. 28, when some 40 people were trapped in the cabins in the air, some of them for five hours.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.