Jal el-Dib Residents Resort to Sit-in over Cabinet Failure to Find Solution to Traffic

The residents of Jal el-Dib and neighboring areas are expected to stage a sit-in on Tuesday morning on the Beirut-Jounieh highway in protest of the cabinet’s failure to find an alternative solution to traffic after the dismantlement of the metal bridge, Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) reported.

Head of the Council of Development and Reconstruction Nabil al-Jisr told VDL that the cabinet is stalling the matter.

Engineer Elie Helou said that the council had presented the maps to the cabinet and is awaiting the response to continue its work.

He told the radio station that the new bridge will be 150 meters away from the old one that was dismantled, adding the Jal el-Dib municipality refused setting up two U shaped bridges above the highway.

Helou noted that adopting any other alternatives will lead to a decision to pull down some of the buildings on the sides of the highway.

Public Works and Transport Minister Ghazi al-Aridi told al-Joumhouria newspaper said that “he has no information on the matter.”

“I don’t know the real reason behind the crisis… the reason might be due to funding problems or some personal political accounts,” al-Aridi told the daily.

The minister said that the Council of Development and Reconstruction is under Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s authority.

“I can’t do anything about it,” al-Aridi stressed.

Elie Bejjani, a member of Jal el-Dib municipality, told the daily that the resident of the area might refer to “escalations if the matter wasn’t dealt with in a serious manner.”

In February, the Council dismantled the metal bridge after warnings the structure could collapse.

The decision to remove the bridge was taken after a building collapsed in Ashrafiyeh’s Fassouh neighborhood, leaving 27 people dead and 12 others injured.

The collapse put the spotlight on the dismal state of old properties across the country and sparked widespread anger and accusations that authorities had failed to address the problem.