I am quite surprised to read that the municipality in Jounieh did not grant permission to the Floating Island project. “There is no place for the island” and “the municipality does not have the capacity to accommodate the Island’s guests” are not valid arguments to be honest. There’s a lot of space in Jounieh and there’s a huge parking lot near the Casino that’s empty all year long.

We are talking about a one of its kind project that will contain “a sea resort, hotel, gym, nightclub, restaurant and sporting activities” and will attract a lot of tourists to the area. It doesn’t make any sense to reject the project and let another area make use of it. If the municipality is concerned about space and pollution, how about they redeem the stolen beaches from resorts, close down some super night clubs in Maameltein, and do whatever it takes to close down the Zouk power plant?

Moreover, I urge them the municipality to stop causing further traffic with their road works and seek the help of experts before making any changes.

The world’s “first floating island,” currently under construction and destined for Jounieh Bay, has been rejected by municipality officials as incompatible with the seaside resort town.

“There is no place for the island in Jounieh,” Mayor Antoine Frem told The Daily Star, adding that the municipality did not have the capacity to accommodate the island’s guests. Frem said the Municipal Council had decided not to grant permission for the project, which was to launch in Jounieh in summer 2015

“A project of this caliber needs to be constructed in an area that does not have a dense population” Frem said, stressing that the project would require infrastructure and a large number of parking spaces. The mayor also raised environmental concerns, pointing out that mechanisms for waste and sewage management had yet to be resolved.