BEIRUT — Beachgoers were baffled upon arriving at Kfar Abida’s public beach only to find it gated and locked with no one claiming responsibility for having blocked their path to the water.

A video published earlier this week, which has since gone viral, documents an iron gate blocking the entryway to the public beach in Fadous, Kfar Abida. "As you can see, they put a gate on the beach," the person filming says. "Last year, everyone could access it."

The beach, just south of Batroun, in northern Lebanon, used to be accessible through a narrow path between two properties until the gate was installed at some point over the last two weeks, according to residents commenting on the video. Another entry point to the beach was also closed, making it impossible to access the public shoreline from any direction.

Similar violations have occurred in other parts of Batroun and across the country, in coastal areas like Jiyyeh, Jbeil, and Jounieh.

Read more.

Privatization continues to threaten remaining patches of public coastline in Lebanon

Culprit unknown, suspicions surround Airbnb

Activists and social media users claimed that one of the nearby Airbnb properties promises gated access to a private beach in Kfar Abida, without mentioning the name.

L’Orient Today was not able to find the Airbnb posting that claimed private access to the beach, although there are dozens of Airbnb properties along Kfar Abida's coast that claim beach access without specifying where or how. None were willing to comment on the matter.

When contacted, the municipality in Kfar Abida, the mukhtar and residents, all insisted that they had no idea who had installed the white gate and locked the entrance of the beach.

“We are not the ones who gated the beach, and no one has complained so far to the municipality, so we are staying out of it for now,” a representative of the municipality said.

The mayor did not respond to attempts at contacting him and the phone operator at the municipality refused to transfer the call, insisting that “he will not comment on the matter as the municipality was not the one who gated the beach.”

Growing frustration at further privatization

The encroachments violate Law 444 on the Protection of the Environment because they obstruct the view of and access to the beach. Under a legally binding decree issued in 1925, any permanent construction on the public domain and the sectioning of the Lebanese coast are prohibited.

The possibility that a public beach would have been suddenly and possibly permanently quartered off for private use angered activists and residents, who took to X (formerly Twitter) to share their concerns.

Activist Abbas Tfaily wrote sarcastically that "this is how in the planet of Lebanon you can turn a public beach into a private chalet."

من كوكب لبنان على ال airbnb
« Chalet privé avec accès privé à la plage »
و هيك منكون حولنا البحر ل مسبح خاص للشاليه#الأملاك_البحرية المحتلة#كفر_عبيدا pic.twitter.com/N4ckdmDK4a

— AToufayli (@TfayliAbbass) July 10, 2024

NAHNOO, an advocacy platform for the participatory development of public policies, regularly calls for protecting public spaces and beaches in Lebanon.

“How can someone who does not own property or land build a restaurant on public property? Are politicians, ministries, municipalities, and the Beaches Detachment colluding to rob us of our public property, harm biodiversity, and pollute the beach?” NAHNOO wrote in a post on X.

تعديات فيلا جعجع على الأملاك العامة البحرية مستمرة في كفرعبيدا، بالرغم من الشكاوي العديدة لأهالي المنطقة لدى وزارة الأشغال والبلدية. متى يطيق القانون بالتساوي على كل الناس؟ ومتى سنستعيد #الشط_لكل_الناس ؟ pic.twitter.com/T7VF37ibrD

— NAHNOO (@NahnooLeb) July 3, 2024

Several coastline violations reported in the area

Earlier in July, a villa belonging to Raghida Dergham, a prominent Lebanese-American journalist, on the coast of Kfar Abida led to a legal dispute with activists seeking to protect public access to the sea.

Activists and legal experts pointed to a row of recently planted cacti and cement blocks that cut off access to the shore in front of her property for beachgoers and fishermen, which they say is illegal but which her own lawyer claims isn't.

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Kfar Abida’s Abu Ali public beach is at risk

In Kfar Abida and neighboring Thoum, about half a dozen similar construction projects have been carried out in recent years without permits, causing public coastline to dwindle. NAHNOO is one of the eight NGOs in the Coast for All coalition, which regularly holds protests and press conferences against the privatization of public beaches.

Last year, the coalition organized several protests at the Abu Ali public beach in Kfar Abida when businessman Ziad Bassil began building a house there and attempted to cut off public access to the beach. The villa's construction was halted but the case has not been completely settled.

In early April, Coast for All campaign activists submitted a request to the Ministry of Public Works in hopes of fully restoring public access to the beach and having the house demolished.