The Minister of Energy and Water in the caretaker government, Walid Fayyad, received a delegation of heads of agricultural unions and municipalities from Akkar in his office at the ministry. During the meeting, the heads of municipalities and agricultural unions provided a detailed explanation of the annual suffering, disasters, and significant losses faced by farmers and residents due to floods and torrents resulting from rivers, especially the Great River and Al-Usultan River.
The delegation requested Fayyad's "assistance to farmers and residents together by working to clean the channels of the Great River in coordination with the Syrian side and building a barrier for it, as well as cleaning the channel of Al-Usultan River and all river channels in the Akkar Governorate." The Minister of Energy expressed his full readiness to cooperate with the demands of the agricultural unions and municipalities, and made a call to the Minister of Water Resources in Syria regarding this matter, receiving a positive response.
Fayyad assured the delegation that "the cleaning works for the Great River and Al-Usultan River will take place this year," promising to "make every effort to achieve that," explaining that "these works will be included in the general budget of the Lebanese government." He also promised to "visit Akkar Governorate as soon as possible to assess the rivers, damages, and agricultural disasters in the Akkar plain."
