The Ministry of Youth and Sports has turned into a real beehive since early morning, as it welcomed the head of the Higher Relief Committee, Major General Mohammed Khair, along with a large delegation of engineers from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and a substantial team from the Beirut Municipality, along with relevant specialists from the General Directorate of General Security.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr. George Kallas, the acting director general Fadia Hallal, Head of the Public Relations Department Hassan Sharara, and the Minister's office director Hussein Omar were present to receive the delegation of engineers. The engineering team toured the ministry's offices, inspecting its walls, ceilings, and floors, with a focus on the lower storage area. They held a meeting with the ministry’s officials, which included a phone call between Ministers Kallas and Hamiyeh, where the latter requested an urgent report and proposed solutions.
Additionally, Kallas and Beirut Governor Mroun Aboud were in communication while a specialized team from the Beirut Municipality was extracting water from the ministry's lower storage. Kallas expressed gratitude to his counterpart Hamiyeh and Governor Aboud for their keen interest and follow-up, as well as to the engineers for their significant role.
Major General Mohammed Khair, Secretary General of the Higher Relief Committee, visited the Ministry of Youth and Sports, accompanied by a specialized team, where they inspected the building in the presence of Kallas, Hallal, Sharara, and Omar.
Minister Kallas stated, "We took a quick precautionary decision to evacuate the building, which I informed Prime Minister Mikati and the relevant ministries and institutions about. I thank them for coming with their teams, especially the Minister of Public Works, the Governor of Beirut, the Engineers' Syndicate, and the Beirut Municipality, which reflects that the state is still present despite all circumstances."
Major General Khair mentioned, "We received a call from the minister during a parliamentary session, and we tasked Prime Minister Najib Mikati from Bahrain on this matter, in addition to the Ministry of Public Works as the responsible authority for buildings. All official departments, including the municipality, are concerned, and they should extract the water, which is the core issue."
He added, "Reinforcement is more important than maintenance, and this is the primary remedy. We are returning to the basic principle, which is the treatment that will be conducted regarding concrete and steel tests. After receiving the results, we will provide the correct report to the minister, who will then present it to the Cabinet for remedies."
He concluded, "According to the law, this building is leased, and as long as there is a lease, the owner is responsible for its maintenance and reinforcement if it's stipulated in the lease contract. This contract includes maintenance, while the reinforcement should be the owner's responsibility, and they should come and review with us and conduct the tests. However, the state will sponsor the tests, after which they must take the results and proceed with the necessary actions."
Fadia Hallal, the acting director general of Youth and Sports, said, "The root of the problem is the failure of the pumps in the storage, the rising water levels due to winter, and there is also a water spring in the building’s storage. We ran low on diesel for about four months, and we operated with one water pump throughout the year. When we tried to install solar energy, we couldn't operate it because the number of solar panels was minimal, and we used it only for operational purposes within the administration."
She continued, "Thus, the pump failures led to the rise in water levels. When funds became available, we hired maintenance workers, but they refused to proceed due to high water levels, insisting on water extraction first. We corresponded with all departments: the Ministry of Public Works, the Beirut Governor, the Higher Relief Committee, and the Civil Defense, which cooperated with us for a year, and we secured diesel, gasoline, and oil for the generator, successfully removing a significant amount of water."
Afterward, we were waiting for the Ministry of Public Works, which then referred the matter to the Ministry of Energy on the grounds that the water spring falls under its jurisdiction." In any case, Hallal concluded, "We all agreed on the mechanism, where it is anticipated that the Beirut Municipality’s team will complete the water pumping today (Thursday), allowing the engineering team from the Ministry of Public Works to conduct scientific tests on the columns and floor tomorrow (Friday) and send the results to a specialized laboratory, with further measures to follow based on those results, including a comprehensive study of the building and its maintenance and protection needs."
