The Minister of Public Works and Transport in the caretaker government, Ali Hamieh, announced from the municipality of New Jdeidah - Bassar Baouchriyeh, the ministry's approval for the municipality to use and invest the newly created areas through landfill within its jurisdiction (known as the New Jdeidah landfill) according to terms set by the ministry. This is intended to serve the public interest by securing additional revenues for the municipality given the current circumstances, as a complementary step from the public administration towards local governance. He emphasized that "his signature on this decision is not political but rather an implementation of previous Cabinet decisions."
Minister Hamieh made his remarks during a ceremony held in his honor by the municipality, attended by the mayor of New Jdeidah - Baouchrieh - Sad Antoine Jabbara, members of the municipality, the Metn district governor Marlene Haddad, and social and religious figures. Hamieh stated: "Our decision to grant the municipality of New Jdeidah - Baouchrieh - Sad the right to invest the areas created by the previous landfill within its jurisdiction is rooted in previous Cabinet decisions, as the municipality is a public entity, not a private one. These areas belong to the public maritime domain under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, having previously served for years as a dumping site for waste from the district and surrounding areas. This step is the least the state can do towards it, and it is a right of the municipality of New Jdeidah."
Hamieh added: "Our country Lebanon is suffering, that is true. Our government is weakened, yes; its condition is not hidden from anyone. You, we, and all our brothers in the nation face ongoing hardships and crises… This is a reality we acknowledge, but we sincerely believe that the Lebanon we love will soar high again, whether through integration, adaptation, communication, openness, will, coexistence, dialogue, and discussion. We have a true belief that our country is neither incapacitated nor poor nor bankrupt. Evidence of this is that the revenues from the ministry's public utilities are estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars for the benefit of the public treasury."
Hamieh concluded: "Lebanon awaits all of us – each in our own capacity – to work together to lift the burden of suffering from its shoulders; it deserves so much from us, and its distinguished geographic location enables it to play a pivotal role in the region regardless of changes in geopolitical factors."
For his part, Jabbara thanked Minister Hamieh for his initiative, which "will positively impact New Jdeidah and its surroundings," considering "this approval came to give justice to the largest municipalities on the Metn coast and enables them to increase their revenues," noting that "Minister Hamieh has justified New Jdeidah after many were hesitant to do so," asserting that "this step enhances the trust among the citizens of Metn who rely on further improvements in municipal services."
It should be noted that Minister Hamieh based his approval on the Cabinet's decision on March 17, 2016, in response to the municipality's request to invest in the lands that would result from landfill within its jurisdiction according to applicable laws, as well as the Cabinet's decision on February 8, 2022, approving the completion of a decree to grant the municipality the right to invest the areas created by previous landfilling. However, the ministry set a series of conditions for the approval to invest in those areas, which include:
- Limiting the use and investment work to the newly created areas defined in the map attached to Cabinet Decision No. 2/2022 without adding anything new or making any horizontal or vertical expansions.
- Prohibiting the use of concrete for any construction and restricting it to the use of dismountable materials only.
- Preserving the rights of others and adhering to all applicable texts.
- Not encroaching on adjacent public maritime properties in any way or dumping any soil, rocks, or waste or causing any pollution to the public maritime properties.
