Activists gathered in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, in Hazmieh, on Tuesday, November 18, with slogans denouncing the increasing violations of public maritime properties. (Credit: Photo sent by the 'Coastline for All' campaign)
BEIRUT — “Coastline for All” campaign held a sit-in Tuesday outside the Public Works and Transport Ministry in Hazmieh, east of Beirut, protesting what activists called the ministry’s failure to stop growing encroachments along the country’s coastline.
During the demonstration, the few dozen activists present also criticized the legalization of encroachments on public maritime property "under the pretext of maintenance and the issuance of permits that violate the comprehensive Lebanese land-use plan, without enforcing the law or protecting citizens' rights to access the beach," according to the campaign's statement.
The "Coastline for All" campaign includes dozens of NGOs and held a press conference last Nov. 11 to denounce the growing number of violations along the coast, from north to south.
It also condemned "the marginalization of these issues in the corridors of ministries," recalling "that the responsibility for protecting the coastline lies primarily with the Public Works and Transport Ministry," which is why the sit-in was held there a week later.
"The relevant ministries have not only ignored our requests, but they are now issuing 'maintenance permits' to violators, which effectively serve as disguised permits paving the way for encroachment on public property," activists said at the time.
During the sit-in, on behalf of the campaign, Maggie Najm denounced "a whole series of breaches [of public maritime property], stretching along the entire Lebanese coast — from the city of Batroun to Thoum [Batroun district, North Lebanon], from Kfar Abida [Batroun district] to Amchit (Jbeil district, Mount Lebanon), and all the way to Sour, Abbasieh, and Naqoura [Sour district, South Lebanon], where violations are multiplying out of control, turning millions of square meters [of beaches] into concrete blocks that threaten public rights and communal spaces." She asked, "Are we going to wait until the whole coast is concreted over before we act?"
Inadequate decisions and ongoing inaction
The campaign also notes in its statement that "65 percent of the decisions made by the Directorate General of Urban Planning [DGU] between 2022 and 2023 contradict the comprehensive Lebanese land-use plan."
It believes that "the Lebanese coastline has become a hostage to a system that protects violators," with no serious effort to put an end to the violations.
The campaign reiterated its demands: the immediate removal of all violations, especially the most recent; the immediate cancellation and suspension of all maintenance permits granted to those who diverted their use for actual construction and the rejection of any permit applications not accompanied by an environmental impact study.
The activists also called on the DGU to stop granting permits that contradict the national land-use plan, and to launch an investigation to hold accountable all those involved in granting maintenance permits, as these have become a front for building tourist complexes.
"Any harm to the coastline is a direct attack on the population," the campaign continued in its statement. It also announced it would take "all necessary measures to enforce the law, as the people no longer have the luxury of waiting for solutions to ongoing irregularities."
Encroachments on the Lebanese coastline are numerous, particularly recently, and have been documented by the campaign: a beach resort in the city of Batroun (North Lebanon) was built on a wooden platform without any substantial permit, another in the same region blocks access to the beach, two more complexes in Thoum, one operating under a permit for a "tent" and the other whose construction continued despite repeated stop-work orders…
The "Coastline for All" campaign also cited two private villas in the same situation — a property owner in Kfar Bida refuses to open access to the beach, while another in Amchit threatens a cave frequented by a monk seal, an endangered species.
In South Lebanon, in Sour, a large project involving the Lebanese army was halted at the last minute, but not before impacting the city's marine reserve. The Abbassieh reserve has also been affected by a project under construction. Even farther south in Naqoura, a project was stopped, but the violations were not dismantled.
