The organizations Green Southerners and Green Line, in cooperation with the Legal Agenda, filed petitions for annulment with the State Council concerning three decrees adopted during the last weeks of the Najib Mikati government, which authorized the occupation of public maritime lands in three Lebanese regions: One for a road project in Zouk Behnine (Akkar), the second for the expansion of a private beachfront project (Palma) in Bahsas, Tripoli, and the third on the beach of Mansouri, in the village of Qlayleh (Sour), near a protected area for sea turtle nesting. This project's outlines remained vague, according to the municipality of Qlayleh and local activists. This latest appeal was filed on March 6.

Legal Agenda cited the following reasons, according to a statement released on March 6 by the state-run National News Agency (NNA): The granting of this decree to a company that no longer exists in commercial registers (the name and the specialty have been changed), the lack of industrial or tourist justifications for the project, the lack of approval from the Directorate General of Urbanism (DGU), absence of a lease agreement for the land adjoining the maritime properties supposed to be the subject of investment, the time limit for the work set at one year renewable, which is not a sufficient period for a project, and finally, the absence of an environmental impact study.

In Lebanon, the occupation of public maritime lands must be legalized by decrees issued by the government. An environmental impact study must be approved by the Ministry of the Environment and must allow public access to the coastline. However, numerous violations of these rules have taken place for decades, and few beaches remain fully accessible and preserved.

This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.