The highway connecting Jounieh to Beirut, at the level of Jal el-Dib. (Credit: P.H.B.)
BEIRUT – Lebanese Public Works and Transport Minister, Fayez Rasamny, launched on Wednesday the "national plan for the rehabilitation and maintenance of roads and bridges in Lebanon," which, in his words, "connects everything" in the country.
During a press conference, Rasamny explained that the ministry based its work on the 2024 and 2025 budgets to "develop a transparent and comprehensive plan. We are launching it today and will pursue it over several years, hoping that future ministers will continue to implement it. What we are doing today is a national project that connects all of Lebanon," he emphasized. He also recalled that an amount of $175 million had been allocated for infrastructure damaged by the recent conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
In this context, the minister sought the help of municipalities and mohafazats to "classify the roads." "We have included in the specifications all the basics of public safety. Our working method is different from those adopted in the past," insisted the minister, as the construction sites in the public works sector are regularly marred by corruption or lack of transparency.
Rasamny lastly emphasized that road lighting will be done using hybrid technology "operating both on electricity and solar energy."
In mid-April, Rasamny had launched a rehabilitation project for the road connecting Beirut International Airport (BIA) to the capital with the objective of restoring certain infrastructure and enhancing safety on the various road segments involved. On Tuesday, the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced the start of lighting works on the road leading to BIA.
Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, inaugurated on May 14 the lighting project for the Raouche Corniche, Australia Street, and adjacent streets on Beirut's waterfront. These efforts come as Lebanon has been suffering from a severe economic crisis since 2019, which had until now prevented the maintenance of infrastructure across the country.