Hamieh scraps controversial airport expansion 'at Hezbollah request'

Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh scrapped a deal for a second terminal at Beirut's international airport, after critics raised transparency concerns in the $122 million project.

"Based on a Hezbollah request, I bravely announce that the contract will not be implemented, as if it's null and void," Hamieh said, shortly before the parliamentary public works committee convened.

The committee was supposed to discuss the contracting process of the airport's new terminal.

Last week, Hamieh announced the launch of the new terminal in a ceremony at the grand Serail.

Terminal 2 will bring in private sector investments worth $122 million and will handle 3.5 million passengers annually when operations begin in 2027. It will add six docking stands as well as remote ones, Hamieh said.

The project was criticized by many media outlets and political parties, including the Lebanese Forces, who considered that the mutual agreement between an Irish company and the Lebanese Ministry of Transportation bypassed the laws that require a bidding process.

Some had questioned how a caretaker government with limited powers could announce such a major infrastructure project, in a country where entrenched political barons are accused of systemic corruption.

Civil society organizations and lawmakers noted the absence of a tender process and a lack of involvement of the Public Procurement Authority.

Jean Ellieh, head of the authority, said "the contract did not pass through" the regulatory body as required under a 2021 law.

Last week 10 civil society groups, including Transparency International Lebanon, warned of "serious abuses" in the procurement law's application which "open the door to corruption and nepotism".