Like a judge issuing a ruling, with his husky voice and clipped delivery, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam launched the Rafik Hariri Park project in Beirut on Tuesday. The event drew little attention.Inaugurating chrysanthemums is one of the many routine duties of a prime minister. But inaugurating a park in Beirut’s concrete landscape is not insignificant, especially when the site, reclaimed from seafront landfill, is set to become the city’s largest public space for recreation and community gathering.Even more surprising: after decades of neglect, with basic projects repeatedly postponed under the pretext of wars and instability, work is beginning on a park that few believed would ever materialize. And it is happening at a moment when the Lebanese are deeply uncertain about the future. Need the context? Salam lays foundation stone for...
Like a judge issuing a ruling, with his husky voice and clipped delivery, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam launched the Rafik Hariri Park project in Beirut on Tuesday. The event drew little attention.Inaugurating chrysanthemums is one of the many routine duties of a prime minister. But inaugurating a park in Beirut’s concrete landscape is not insignificant, especially when the site, reclaimed from seafront landfill, is set to become the city’s largest public space for recreation and community gathering.Even more surprising: after decades of neglect, with basic projects repeatedly postponed under the pretext of wars and instability, work is beginning on a park that few believed would ever materialize. And it is happening at a moment when the Lebanese are deeply uncertain about the future. Need the context? Salam lays foundation stone...
