Choucair: Civil Society Calls Righteous but Vandalizing Central Beirut is Rejected
Head of the Beirut Chambers of Commerce Mohammed Choucair stressed on Thursday that the demands of the civil society campaigners are righteous but denounced the spiraling chaos in downtown Beirut that he sees as an attempt to close it down.
“We support activists who are open to logical solutions. Their demands are righteous but we strongly denounce the systematic attempts to vandalize downtown of Beirut,” said Choucair in a press conference titled To Save the Heart of Beirut.
“There are systematic attempts to close down what is left of the institutions there,” he emphasized.
Choucair appealed to the lawmakers of Beirut for quick action and to “take deterrent measures to stop the horrible deteriorating conditions.”
For his part, the spokesman of the company of Solidere Nasser al-Shammaa said: “Downtown Beirut had a prominent role over the years in the revival of tourism in Lebanon. Institutions in central Beirut contribute significantly to the revitalization of the economic cycle and tourism and thus support the Lebanese economy.”
President of the Beirut Traders Association Nicholas Chammas noted: “The Souks are compelled to close down because of the recurrent crises.
“The center of the capital suffers from three overlapping economic crises that include a bad economic situation, tight security measures and the absence of Arab tourists.”
He concluded by saying: “We respect the mobility of the civil society. Their demands are ours, but things are deviating out of track.”
Downtown Beirut has been an action scene lately for demonstrations raging over a waste-management crisis that erupted in July.
The demos kicked off when the largest landfill that receives the trash of Beirut and Mount Lebanon closed, leaving the country drowning in garbage and the foul smell of rotting trash filling nostrils and lungs.
Protests angered over the government's dysfunction are turning into Lebanon's largest movement in years, targeting an entire political class.
However, campaigners who chose the location of their demos in the capital's downtown, infamous for its tourist attraction but losing the luster with recurrent crises, took their anger on the public property smashing traffic lights, setting out fires and spray painting walls.
D.A.
G.K.
Source: Naharnet
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