Policy Analysis by Jana Al Hassanieh, Staff Writer

August 2nd, 2020

After an arguable disgraceful history of failed dams, including the Mseilha Dam in Batroun and the Brisa Dam in Al Denniyeh, many Lebanese citizens have lost trust in the ruling political system that has advocated these dams’ construction. Unfortunately, in Lebanon, the political interests, rather than the scientific evidence, control policy development and project implementation. Yet even in regard to scientific evidence, the infiltration of political interests in the scientific community in Lebanon must be acknowledged. In the past week, key political figures and a ruling oligarchy have been greatly supporting Bisri dam’s construction; attempting to persuade the Greater Beirut citizens that they are victimized and targeted for water deprivation. Yet it is very clear that the Bisri Dam project is supported by political arrangements to reap profits from deals and brokers, and to fulfill various political agendas.

First, let’s start with a small recap. The Lebanese Water Supply Augmentation Project (also known as the Bisri Dam Project), is financed by the Lebanese government, the World Bank, and the Islamic Development Bank, and claims that when implemented it will provide “clean and reliable water to over 1.6 million people living across the Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon region”. Environmental activists and anti-dam protesters have been voicing their concerns for years regarding the Bisri Dam project. Their extensive protests, campaigns, and petitions have helped stall the project, but do not seem to completely end it.

The land expropriation, reaching a total cost of 155 million dollars, has been settled by the Lebanese government. In addition, according to AL ARABIYA newspaper, until April, a total of 340 million dollars were paid to contractors and partners close to President Michel Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil. On April 16th, the World Bank called on the Lebanese government to hold an open stakeholder engagement and public dialogue, addressing concerns raised by citizens and civil society related to the Bisri Dam project. As well, they suggested re-allocation of undisbursed amounts from the project to other health and economic projects during the current “social, economic, and financial challenges”.

Further, on July 22nd the World Bank informed the Lebanese government of its partial suspension of the Bisri Dam project starting from July 26th because of the poor compliance with the loan agreement’s requirements, including not yet to, failure to complete the Ecological Compensation Plan, not drafting a roadmap for the plan's implementation in the medium to long terms, and lastly not reaching an agreement on the Operations and Maintenance of the dam with the concerned parties. On that same day, Prime Minister Hassan Diab requested a “3-months extension of time for the date set by the World Bank to suspend disbursement for the Bisri Dam project”.

On July 27th, Gebran Bassil, the President of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the past Minister of Energy and Water in 2010, wrote on Twitter that whoever wants to cancel Bisri Dam has to make up for the money spent by the government, which he claims to be 400 million dollars. He added that all who are now objecting the construction have previously agreed on the dam and they should organize a referendum for the citizens of the regions that will be drinking from the water. Further, on July 28th, the World Bank notified the Lebanese government of its consent for the deadline extension to fulfill the requirements of the Bisri Dam project’s loan agreement until September 4th 2020. They also asked the Lebanese government to consider “establishing an independent third party to initiate dialogue with all stakeholders”; an action we all know the Lebanese government will disregard.

Amidst the tragic economic crisis, coronavirus pandemic, deep poverty, and sinking currency value in Lebanon; and after a full power-outage and traffic-lights blackout night in Beirut, one would think that, on the next day, any statements from key political figures would be addressing either the electricity crisis or the financial disaster. But instead, on July 29th, politicians including ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc MPs Ali Ammar and Amine Cherry and Amal Movement’s Development and Liberation bloc MP Mohammed Khawaja publicized their support to the Bisri Dam project. On the same day, in a report by (تحقيق) on MTV Lebanon media station, Dr. Tony Nemer, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Geology at the American University of Beirut (AUB), stated his concerns regarding Bisri Dam’s construction. He said that the reports and studies used to prove the validity and potential of the Bisri Dam project generally lack the needed scientific and geological evidence of the safety hazards associated with the dam. Even though the dam can endure earthquakes, yet due to the highly seismic area that the dam is planned to be located in, it will increase the chances of earthquakes similar to the 1956 earthquake.

“If an earthquake takes place and Lebanon cracks but the dam remains intact, does that mean that it is a great achievement!”, Dr. Nemer added. One of his final remarks expressing his discontent on the project was that “it seems that the final decision is set”. As such, he further argued that the politicians are controlling this project and not the scientists and expressed the need for further investigation and listening from both sides and points of view.

The World Bank has stated that, during the Bisri Dam project preparation, the project implementing agency, which is the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR), carried out an Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and consulted civil society between April 2012 and May 2017. However, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a renowned international water research-for-development organization, published a report, in 2016, by Dr. Roland Riachi, an economist and associate researcher at the department of Political Studies and Public Administration at AUB. The report, titled “Water Policies And Politics In Lebanon: Where Is Groundwater?”, called out the political corruption in Lebanon and the sectarian quota (muhasasa) system, and questioned the CDR as it “only reports to the Council of Ministers and does not fall under the control by the Court of Auditors and the Central Inspection”. This report also argues that the lack of coordination between public actors has caused “institutional fragmentation”, and “a total obstruction of actors at the level of local authorities, unless they are politically related to power networks in the country”.

On July 31st 2020, Dr. Roland tweeted about how the Bisri Dam Project, the most expensive project in the history of Lebanon, lacks an economic feasibility assessment study that should take into consideration: repair and maintenance costs, high cost of electrical pumping; costs of drilling and foundation grouting, the cost of pumps that the CDR disregards and claims that the project depends on gravity (contrary to Newton’s law), a supply and demand study, and the quality and cost of water treatment before it is distributed for “drinking”.

Hence, the protests against the Bisri Dam project are not merely for preserving the historic, cultural, and archeological sites in the region and its premises (83 sites upstream and 29 downstream that date back to the Bronze Age, the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Mameluke and Ottoman Periods); nor just for preventing the irreversible forest destruction and ecosystem deterioration; nor just for safeguarding the agricultural activity in the area; nor just for the health and safety hazards. The protests are against Lebanon’s corrupt sectarian quota system that is carelessly advocating a project set to fail.

The Phoenix Daily spoke with the representative of “Save the Bisri Valley Campaign”, Ms. Amani Beainy. “The Bisri Dam project is a demonstration of all corruption in the country; inventing projects under the title of development and reconstruction, and destroying the country to create useless unsuccessful projects. Their only aim is to waste and steal public money. Victory in “Save the Bisri Valley Campaign” will be a victory of the will of the people over the system of corruption and the major contractors, who are nothing but an extension of the corrupt ruling class”, Ms. Amani told The Phoenix Daily.

“It is the same governing system that established the policy of water dams, and that is linked to a network of large contractors insisting on the construction of a useless dam” she noted. In fact, according to Ms. Amani “the state's experience in building the dams has proved to be a catastrophic failure that has left Lebanon in massive financial and environmental losses.”

Regarding the project’s water quality, Ms. Amani added: “Within the Bisri Dam project, 50 million cubic meters of Qaraoun carcinogenic water will be drawn. Water will also be drawn from Bisri through the tunnel that runs under the landfill in Naameh, which is filled with leachate. Furthermore, the Litani River Authority (LRA) revealed that Bisri cannot secure the required amount of water. So why insist on this deal when there are other clean alternatives, at a cost not exceeding quarter of the cost of the Bisri Dam?”. 

It seems that the World Bank has not yet understood the massive corruption of the Lebanese government. The World Bank continues to “enforce open, transparent and competitive processes in the selection of contractors, consultants and vendors”, yet it has become widespread knowledge that the selection for this particular project is set by President Aoun and FPM leader Gebran Bassil. The World Bank has a “zero-tolerance policy on the misuse of funds under the projects it finances”, yet we all know that the Lebanese government is already misusing the World Bank’s funds. So when will the World Bank finally cancel the funding of the Bisri Dam Project? And why do they continue to invest in projects not only entirely not feasible, but infamous for their corruption index?