Picture from NowLebanon
The protest took place 10 days ago on the Dahr al-Baidar international highway at the Falougha intersection and as usual, the reports coming from the residents and the ministry are conflicting. In fact, officials are saying there are no dangers presented by the dam but it seems hard to believe specially if you read some of the comments and arguments raised against the dam:
1- Why was the dam relocated from the Qaysamani area to Mghiteh which contains the Chaghour fall and is a protected area? Is it true that the dam construction will contaminate the Chaghour water, which is the key water source of Hammana?
2- Residents are claiming the potential risk of flooding will drastically increase if the dam is built. Also they will be getting less electricity.
3- Hammana mayor is against the dam and most of the protestors are claiming this project will only benefit the Kuwaitis (Who are funding the damn by the way). It seems someone wants to come up with a touristic project around the dam in few years time.
I think Minister Bassil should sit down with the town residents and answer their concerns if he’s that confident the dam will only be beneficial for them and doesn’t present any dangers. It doesn’t make sense that they protest and block the highway just to have fun.
The residents of Hammana in the Upper Metn region blocked the main Beirut Damascus road in Daher al-Baydar at the Falougha intersection to protest the establishment of the al-Qaisamani dam in the Falougha area , claiming it would affect their region’s potable water, MTV reported on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, schools had suspended classes and church bells were rung in protest, National News Agency reported. [Link]
Najib
1- Why was the dam relocated from the Qaysamani area to Mghiteh which contains the Chaghour fall and is a protected area?
The dam location was relocated in 2008 . Bassil wasn’t the Minister of Energy and Water at that time. The reason it was relocated by 200m is because the new location will cost 21M$ and will provide 1M L of water whereas the initial location will cost about 18 M$ and will only provide half that amount 500K L.
Is it true that the dam construction will contaminate the Chaghour water, which is the key water source of Hammana?
An environment impact assessment was done which clearly shows that the construction will not contaminate chaghour water ( u can get a copy from the Ministry )
There was also a risk assessment study which takes into considerations scenarios like an earthquake …. if the 17 m wall ( 12m above ground ) for some reason is completely destroyed, the flooded water won’t reach any inhabited area.
The Ministry of Environment also gave its approval after finalizing its studies
2- Residents are claiming the potential risk of flooding will drastically increase if the dam is built. Also they will be getting less electricity.
The dam is built with Flood control. Again we are talking abt 1M L of water which is not much. (Chabrouh 15M- Janneh 95M )
getting less electricity , how ?
3- Hammana mayor is against the dam and most of the protestors are claiming this project will only benefit the Kuwaitis (Who are funding the damn by the way). It seems someone wants to come up with a touristic project around the dam in few years time.
Only Hammana mayor and residents are against the dam where as all other municipalities ( 30 ) and their residents are supporting it . Here is a list of the attendees during the inauguration ( ممثل رئيس جبهة النضال الوطني النائب وليد جنبلاط النائب السابق أيمن شقير، والنواب: ناجي غاريوس، فادي الأعور، الان عون، حكمت ديب، وبلال فرحات، رئيس الصندوق الكويتي عبد الوهاب البدر، ممثل الصندوق المقيم في لبنان نواف الدبوس، رئيس اتحاد بلديات المتن الاعلى كريم سركيس، رئيس اتحاد بلديات جرد عاليه يوسف شيا، نقيب المهندسين عادل بصيبص، رئيس بلدية فالوغا سمير غانم، رئيس مجلس الانماء والاعمار نبيل الجسر، ممثل الحكومة لدى مجلس الانماء والاعمار وليد صافي، رئيس المحكمة الدرزية في المتن الاعلى الشيخ غاندي مكارم، وكيل داخلية الحزب التقدمي الاشتراكي في المتن هادي أبو الحسن يرافقه وفد كبير من الحزب، ممثل الحزب القومي عادل حاطوم، مسؤول تيار “المردة” في قضاء بعبدا بيار بعقليني، رئيس مصلحة مياه بيروت وجبل لبنان جوزف نصير، وشخصيات ومهتمين.)
How will this benefit kuwaitis ?
Do u know that the area around the dam is a military zone and no one is allowed to build there ?
I think Minister Bassil should sit down with the town residents and answer their concerns
There was a public hearing session to answer hammana residents questions and concerns also the residents have been meeting with Ministry officials for a year now.
The project was awarded 13 months ago and the Ministry delayed it hoping that
Hammana residents will eventually understand that there are no risks.
Unfortunately the residents have no proofs or real evidences regarding their claims .They paid a french company to do another assessment and we haven’t seen the findings till now.
As we speak Beirut is suffering a major shortage in water supply . Many areas barely get water and people are paying a lot of money for private tank owners to provide them with clean water.
Stoping this dam means ur cutting water supply to 30 villages and around 148 000 residents.
We need to decide whether we keep the water going down the drain as it has been the case for the past 50 years while people suffer from shortage , or we take advantage of this priceless resource.
Unfortunately we are only good at fighting each other. We nag all day about insufficient power supply and yet we obstruct every project aiming to improve the situation.
we swim in our our own waste but we obstruct building wastewater treatment plants ( ex Kfarhelda ) because we are happy with the waste contaminating our rivers and ground water.
We suffer from shortage in water supply but we stand against every dam project
Meanwhile u can check these national plans to get an idea of how the ministry is planning to safeguard our water.
1-National Water Strategy Sector
http://www.4shared.com/office/0GrSa7tB/National_Water_Strategy_Sector.html
2-National Wastewater strategy Sector
http://gebranbassil.com/upload/Ministry/Ministry%20of%20Energy%20and%20Water/Publications/National%20Strategy%20for%20the%20Wastewater%20Sector%20En.pdf
Rawad,
First thanks for the insightful reply and I am glad I am seeing constructive comments on such sensitive posts.
1- I didn’t ask why Bassil relocated it. I know this dam project has been there for some time but it seems the Hammana residents have a problem with the new location. I see it’s more efficient at the new location.
2- I was told there’s a certain Dr.Qumair who made a report on this matter and refused the idea of a dam and that he used to work at the ministry. Any idea about it or his report? I am not sure about the electricity thing which is why I asked if there’s any impact.
3- Isn’t it bizzare that Hammana would be opposed to it while all others agree? To be honest it doesn’t matter if everyone around Hammana agrees with this project if Hammana residents don’t because it’s on their land after all. It is their town and their right to decide what is good or not or at least have a say in it.
As far as the Kuwaitis are concerned, aren’t Arabs present heavily in that area? Isn’t it possible to exploit the area around the dam for touristic purposes later on? Just wondering again.
If there was a public hearing, what happened in it? Obviously differences were not settled.
“Unfortunately the residents have no proofs or real evidences regarding their claims .They paid a french company to do another assessment and we haven’t seen the findings till now.”
Maybe but it’s their town and it doesn’t make sense that they protest just out of the blues. Don’t u think?
“Stopping this dam means ur cutting water supply to 30 villages and around 148 000 residents.”
Do u mind 30 villages r not getting water now?
I will check the documents but like I said, something’s not clear about this whole dam project and Hammana residents are people just like you and me and they obviously know something we don’t.
Najib
1- Honestly i still don’t understand y they are upset. Some people genuinely believe their village is at risk and i can see that from their campaign on twitter and fb and from the ones i met during the protest. But other are just riding the wave. I am not here to judge it is their right but this is y we do these studies and I hope we don’t follow our emotions and others blindly.
2- I was told there’s a certain Dr.Qumair who made a report on this matter and refused the idea of a dam and that he used to work at the ministry. Any idea about it or his report?
He still works at the ministry but he opposes all Bassil projects so … but i am not aware of any reports he submitted. I will check.
I am not sure about the electricity thing which is why I asked if there’s any impact.
To my knowledge there is no impact.
3- Isn’t it bizzare that Hammana would be opposed to it while all others agree?
it is bizzare but it could be that they want the project on their land and not in falougha.
To be honest it doesn’t matter if everyone around Hammana agrees with this project if Hammana residents don’t because it’s on their land after all. It is their town and their right to decide what is good or not or at least have a say in it.
The land belongs to Falougha but that is not the issue. The residents in nearby town have a say even if it is not in their land but i believe they need to come up with valuable arguments based on scientific evidences.
As far as the Kuwaitis are concerned, aren’t Arabs present heavily in that area? Isn’t it possible to exploit the area around the dam for touristic purposes later on? Just wondering again.
Kuwaitis are present heavily in Bhamdoun. Everything is possible in this country but i understood that this is a strategic military zone and the army will not give it away.
it is smart from ur part to mention the kuwaitis and i was curious to know y they are being generous with funding dams so I asked a kuwaiti involved and he told me that he was so outraged by the fact that we have so much fresh water and it is going to waste while we are suffering from shortage. He said that in Kuwait they build funnels that barely get them few liters of water from rain water. He said it is unfortunate that u don’t understand the importance of water in Lebanon.
If there was a public hearing, what happened in it? Obviously differences were not settled.
The residents raised their questions and concerns and asked for the MInistry of Environment support. The ministry of env which was involved from the beginning didn’t find any problems with the dam.
As for the Ministry of Energy and water , representatives explained the studies and findings but the residents were stubborn.
Maybe but it’s their town and it doesn’t make sense that they protest just out of the blues. Don’t u think?
I hope the residents can come up with a convincing argument and it will be good if u can get their point of view so we can further discuss. It could be for political reasons.
There are always protest for each project. I mean if u build a power plant in a certain area people will be concerned with pollution but the power plant has to be built somewhere. What u can do in that case is use good technologies and filters to reduce the emissions but u can’t not build them plant in a power-starved country. Same goes for wastewater treatment plant and dams….
Do u mind 30 villages r not getting water now?
I didn’t mean that but they are not getting enough. The dam will surely provide more water supply.
I agree with u on ur last point. And i hope u continue ur investigation on that issue.
It is so funny how everything turns as a campaign against Bassil.
The article mentions that the Ministry of Energy and Water is responsible.
Libanconsult who decided on the location of the dam is appointed by the Council of Development and Reconstruction and that’s monitored by the Prime Minister and not Minister of Energy and Water. Also, the environmental impact assesment was reviewed by Ministry of Envirnoment (close to Michel Sleiman).
The Minister of Energy and Water, and in case he alone, without a political decision from the Prime Minister, refuses the location of the dam, against the recommendations of Libanconsult, he will be considered as impeding the project and again someone on Now Lebanon will also write an article on how Bassil is the bad guy.
Also, the article mentions a lot of “What if”s. Against the opinion of a renowned environmental consultant like Libanconsult you need more than a “What if”. Did someone make a study? Or as usual, Lebanese are guided by their intuition? What if the head of municipality, knowing that a project will be made in some location, bought for a cheap price some terrains next to the first location and now, he is deceived and is protesting against the new location?
I guess it is useless to explain more when the head of municipality received the whole study approved by the Ministry of Environment and yet he wants to change the consultant.
I don’t believe Najib, that’s the duty of Bassil to sit and answer the concerns of those people, but the Minister of Environment if you believe in the system of responsibilities.
Razor,
The ministry or Bassil or whomever is in charge of that. He was the one opening the dam and making a speech about it and obviously he likes to take things in charge so it wouldn’t hurt anyone if he sat down and talked with the residents.
No one’s blaming solely Bassil. Like I said, the project is not a new one but Hammana residents seem to be upset about it and it would be good to know why.
If you like investigative reporting, you should start by investigating about who owns the land terrains close to the old location of the dam. Then, probably you will understand why the municipality head and his supporters are still protesting against the new location although scientifically it was proven that there is no risk at the new location.
All I see so far is continuous critics on the ministry of energy, tourism and communication…
Not a single mention to any other ministry since like… ages.
hidden agenda not so hidden anymore.
https://blogbaladi.com/marwan-charbel-should-step-down/
https://blogbaladi.com/minister-marwan-charbel-on-syrian-refugees/
https://blogbaladi.com/quote-of-the-day-3/
https://blogbaladi.com/minister-abboud-assures-tourists-lebanon-is-safe-to-visit/
https://blogbaladi.com/fail-ministry-of-tourism-decides-to-ban-liquid-cocaine/
https://blogbaladi.com/greetings-from-the-ministry-of-public-works/
Razor,
Do u know something we dont? Please do share.
Sorry can’t tell anything without supporting documents and I don’t live in Lebanon to make the research. But someone with good flair and passion for investigation should do. We’ll get then probably a clearer perspective of what is happening.
Typical, cry if the government doesn’t do anything. Cry if the government does do something. Oh, and don’t forget to always be suspicious of who is funding the work.
You really think the Kuwaitis give a fart about Lebanon? Very egocentric to think such an idea. The Lebanese should be on their knees kissing the feet of anyone who dares to put money in the country.
I have a friend who was working with a NGO on water systems in the North. I spent time with him when he was up there, kind of like live a day in my shoes. The residents complaints were because they are ignorant or their education is not beyond their mother’s womb. The other complaints were sectarian, political, tribal and clan non sense.
Loss of electricity? I don’t know if this dam will be but you can make hydroelectric power from a dam. Which will only lead to more electricity.
Every single point they are concerned about is absolutely invalid. Just because you have a public hearing and people disapprove that does not mean the project will stop. People’s complaints have to be valid.
If these people can think higher than their church bells they will understand this will only be good for them.
What will be constructed. is a dam , to collect mainly rain water, which is running now directly, to the
sea . Wasting our wealth , which becomes more valuable in near future, is an unforgiveable mistake.
As for the protests of Hammana inhabitants , and their opposition to construct the dam, as far as I
know Hammana have a lot of experienced engineers, why we don’t hear from them their logic
points of views .
Taking into consideration that what will be constructed is a dam, not a Waste Water Treatment Plant .
which may contaminate Chaghour Hammana water.
The dam which should be designed , constructed , and supervised by well known parties, it should
be safe , secure , & resists earthquakes .
The topographic contours downstream the dam, untill the top cliff edges above Hammana , shows
that it is a natural basin, which is a positive point for the dam.
Let’s work together for the sake of Lebanon, not only for our own private benefits .