The Bisri Dam Project Cancelation: Why and What’s Next
Opinion Policy Analysis by Jana Al Hassanieh, Staff Writer
September 8th, 2020
While battling an unconceivable surge in coronavirus cases, a devastating aftermath of the port explosion in the capital Beirut, a tragic economic crisis, a sinking currency value, and a soaring immigration rate, Lebanon’s highly controversial dam project, the Bisri Dam Project, has finally been canceled following long years of civil opposition.
On September 5th 2020, and after a partial suspension of the Bisri Dam Project since June 26th, the World Bank officially notified the Lebanese government of its cancelation of the 244 million US dollars of undisbursed funds for the Bisri Dam Project, since the government has not completed its expected “preconditions to the commencement of construction of the Bisri Dam”.
The World Bank considers these preconditions as extremely vital for the successful implementation of the project. However, the Lebanese government did not address the comments provided by the World Bank on the Ecological Compensation Plan; did not consult with key stakeholders; did not address the institutional and financial mechanisms put in place between the Ministry of Energy and Water and the Beirut Mount Lebanon Water Establishment in the Operation and Maintenance arrangements; and did not mobilize a contractor to the site as of September 4th, the deadline set by the World Bank. As such, the World Bank canceled the remaining undisbursed funds due to unsatisfaction of submitted documents and governmental inaction.
The immediately effective cancelation of the funds coincides with the World Bank’s reiteration of their readiness to support Lebanon by possibly transferring the undisbursed funds to support social, financial, and economic recovery and relief efforts.
On the same day of the project’s cancelation, Gebran Bassil, the President of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the past Minister of Energy and Water in 2010, tweeted: “A day will come when the Lebanese State, along with all the people of Beirut, Jezzine, Sidon, Chouf, Baabda, and Aley, will demand funding for the Bisri dam. Political agony will subside and the need for water will arise; then crying will not help, and what will only help us is securing a new loan to return to the same dam under the same conditions, but at a much higher cost ... This is how they bankrupted Lebanon.”
Put simply, rather than re-affirming the citizens of possible alternative opportunities and solutions with the cancellation of the Bisri Dam Project, Bassil is rather blaming the Lebanese citizens for voicing out their concerns against the dam project, for causing future water deprivation, and for bankrupting Lebanon. He is essentially indirectly threatening the citizens of thirst and regret as they chose to stand against a dam tainted by environmental and economic faults. What is thoroughly ironic is that the FPM leader’s tweet turns a blind eye to his promise of 24/7 electricity in Lebanon by 2015, and to the many constructed futile dams in Lebanon, that were advocated by him. This embodies the act of Bassil of threatening the Lebanese citizens of bankrupting Lebanon while the country is already in major public debt.
Nonetheless, a major concern expressed since the cancelation of the project is the fact that the Lebanese government is the party that decides the Bisri Valley’s future use, as it has processed 99.8% of the land expropriations, and hence owns the land. Many citizens have evidently lost trust in the ruling class and have expressed their demands of turning the Bisri Valley into a nature reserve and of the need for proper operations and maintenance for the water networking and distribution system.
Understanding that the main water challenge in Lebanon is not water scarcity, as supporters of the Bisri Dam were/are claiming; rather, the primary problem faced is the poor management of our water resources. Afterall, there are many other alternatives for the Bisri Dam Project that are eco-friendly innovative and decentralized solutions to the challenges facing our water sector.
Yes, the cancelation of the Bisri Dam Project is a major victory against the Lebanese corrupt ruling class and a critical milestone towards the fight against the fraudulent sectarian quota (muhasasa) system. Yet this is just one battle won in the war against the Lebanese unaccountable corrupt ruling class.