Tag Archives | municipality of beirut

Compensating For The Lack of Public Spaces in Beirut

By Rami on April 5, 2018 in Environment

One of the things I really struggle with every weekend is coming up with a new place to take my kid to for some outdoor fun. The options in Beirut are quite limited due to the lack of public spaces/gardens so most of the times we end up at a closed playground, which I absolutely despise, and sometimes at some place up in the mountains when the weather permits.

However, I’ve been lately thinking that the Municipality of Beirut actually does have the capacity to compensate for this lack of public space during the weekends and holidays at minimum, and they can seriously focus on this instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on what they label as attempts to revive Nejmeh square.

Beirut has a lot of big schools such as Lycée Abdelkader, La Sagesse, Makassed and International College to name a few, in addition to many public schools as well, and most of them have large fields with kids playgrounds. So why not can’t the municipality agree with a couple of large schools in every area to open their doors during the weekends in order for the people to enjoy a casual troll or jog away from the polluted streets or even bring their kids to play and spend some time.

I know the whole thing is not as simple as just opening the schools’ doors and it definitely needs money and human resources to make it happen, but the municipality can take it as an opportunity to provide jobs for part timers who are willing to participate. Moreover, schools can also benefit by offering to rent small kiosks for business owners for example.

So yes, instead of pouring money into pointless projects and initiatives, how about we simply try to make use of what’s already available?

Beirut Heritage Trail – 5,000 Years of Beirut’s History

By Rami on December 15, 2017 in History

Walking through Beirut Souks, you can’t but notice these medallions fixed into the ground at various spots around the streets. I never knew their purpose until a couple of weeks ago when I looked closely to notice that they have “Beirut Heritage Trail” engraved on them and that each one points to a different direction. So I googled them a bit and found these medallions actually link archaeological sites, historic public spaces and heritage buildings over a 2.5Km walking circuit around the Souks and Beirut downtown.

The circuit will start at the Beirut Souks, which retain the 2,500 year-old ancient street grid and Ottoman access gates, and incorporate several archeological remains including the Phoenico-Persian quarter, the city wall and moat, the restored Mamluk Zawiyat Ibn Iraq and Majidiya mosque. Among the sites featured in the trail are the Emir Munzer mosque, the Roman Baths, Riad El Solh Square and the Grand Theatre to name a few. Source

The project also consists of 50 site panels providing information about the historic places around the heritage trail, so I assume one can learn a great deal about the history of Beirut by following the marks. I personally only know the history of very few sites in downtown, so I will be soon trying to make that walk especially that my kid loves to ride his scooter around the area there.

Horsh Beirut is Open Again to The Public

By Rami on July 30, 2017 in Environment

Horsh Beirut has been closed down by the Municipallity of Beirut for several month now ever since a disease spread among the pine trees there and was threatening the whole area. Fortunately, the municipality back then took the matter seriously and closed down the park to treat the issue by cutting down and burning the infected trees, which eventually resulted in containing the disease.

Accordingly, Horsh Beirut has been officially opened again to the public as of yesterday except for some areas where the municipality is still working to clear the invasive insects.

For those interested, the park will be open from 7AM till 1PM on weekdays, and from 7AM till 7PM on weekends. Barbecue and Shisha are of course still forbidden inside, and thank god for that!

Beirut’s New Bike Lane is Just Impractical

By Rami on May 1, 2017 in Beirut, Traffic

It has been less than 10 days since the unveiling of Beirut’s first bike lane and it is already proving to be impractical, not only because drivers are unsurprisingly ignoring it, but also for the simple fact that it was set up on the left side of the road whereas bikers are obliged by traffic laws to ride on the right side of the road and on the bike lane where it exists. The result is an experience as the one you can see in the below video.

The problem lies in the fact that the lane seems to have been set up in a way not to disturb the valet parking guys who occupy the right lane day and night. You just can’t expect something to function correctly when you start it wrong… In my opinion, the municipality and Beirut by Bike are using this bike lane thing as a stunt to appear like they’re doing something for the city while they know beforehand that no one will make use of it, and best of all, it costs nothing to draw lines on the road!

We can barely fit cars in our street, let alone creating bike lanes, so in order to make that happen the municipality must first work on rehabilitating the roads, and in if it’s impossible then I think they better focus on improving something else and take proper credit for it.

video via Mohamad Cheblak

What Are These Excavation Works in Ramlet El Bayda?

By Rami on November 13, 2016 in Environment, Governmental

Many activists have been sharing photos since Thursday of excavations works currently happening at Beirut’s last public beach in Ramlet El Bayda but nobody was able to explain their purpose yet.

Over the last couple of years there has been a lot of talk about the area being a private property and that a resort will be built there by Achour Development. However, right before the previous municipal council’s term ended last spring, it was announced that the municipality of Beirut will be claiming back the beach and surrounding land in order to keep it accessible to the public. News about the whole thing then eventually stopped circulating until these photos started surfacing online.

Knowing that the “Byeirteh” list’s promise when they were elected was to keep Beirut for its people, I hope they were considering Ramlet El Bayda a part of the capital when they made their promise back then.

In all cases, I tried to reach both of Ziad Chbib (Beirut governor) and Jamal Itani (Beirut mayor) to know the purpose of these excavation works and will definitely post an update if they reply to me.

Photos via Lama Karamé and Joelle Boutros.

New Parking Tariffs in Beirut

By Rami on July 2, 2016 in Governmental, Law

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Due to the disproportionate tariffs set by parking owners across Beirut, governor Ziad Chebib and the municipality recently issued a new decree setting the maximum fees you should pay for private parkings around the city after dividing it into 4 regions as shown above, and the new tariffs are as follows:

First region (Blue):

from 0 to 3 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 3 to 5 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 5 to 8 hours:
5,000 L.L.
8 to 10 hours:
6,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
7,000 L.L.

Second region (Green):

from 0 to 4 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 4 to 7 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 7 to 10 hours:
5,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
6,000 L.L.

Third region (Yellow):

from 0 to 3 hours:
2,000 L.L.
from 3 to 5 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 5 to 8 hours:
3,500 L.L.
from 8 to 10 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
5,000 L.L.

Fourth region (Red):

from 0 to 4 hours:
2,000 L.L.
from 4 to 7 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 7 to 10 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
4,000 L.L.

As for covered parking spaces, the following tariffs apply:

First region (Blue):

from 0 to 3 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 3 to 5 hours:
5,000 L.L.
from 5 to 8 hours:
6,000 L.L.
from 8 to 10 hours
7,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
8,000 L.L.

Second region (Green):

from 0 to 4 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 4 to 7 hours:
5,000 L.L.
from 7 to 10 hours:
6,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
7,000 L.L.

Third region (Yellow):

from 0 to 3 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 3 to 5 hours:
3,500 L.L.
from 5 to 8 hours:
4,000 L.L.
8 to 10 hours:
4,500 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
5,500 L.L.

Fourth region (Red):

from 0 to 4 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 4 to 7 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 7 to 10 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours
4,500 L.L.

Note that the time is rounded up to the nearest hour after 10 minutes.

I’m not really sure how serious will the municipality be about obliging parking owners to abide by the set tariffs, but the chart will at least help you know whether you’re being ripped off or not!

Beirut Madinati – Some Things Are Easier Said Than Done

By Rami on May 5, 2016 in Elections, Politics

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Beirut municipal elections will take place this weekend and I’m definitely voting for Beirut Madinati against the traditional coalition of ruling political parties that has been winning since 1998 and did absolutely nothing significant for the city.

I honestly didn’t care much about Beirut Madinati’s campaign at the beginning and didn’t even feel curious to know their candidates assuming they’re a bunch of attention seeking activists, but later noticed how wrong I was after they unveiled their list and showed how serious they are about their agenda.

However, that doesn’t mean I see them as perfect as some people portray them on social media, not due to anything they did wrong, but simply because some points in their electoral program don’t make much sense to me.

Affordable Housing

With the skyrocketing prices nowadays, it’s no longer easy to buy an apartment in Beirut. I’m an authentic Beiruti, I was born and raised in this city and never imagined that I will be living anywhere else, but I was unfortunately forced to move to Aramoun when I got married due to the prices increase after 2006. So talking about affordable housing in Beirut definitely relates to my problem and thousands others like me. Beirut Madinati is addressing this issue by promising affordable apartments.

Now let’s get real for a moment, the real estate market in Lebanon is a free one and the set prices follow the rules of supply and demand. It’s quite simple, there’s a huge demand for apartments in this city and little supply of constructed units so it only makes sense for the prices to be high. The only way for the municipality to provide these affordable apartments is by financing their construction itself and sell them at cost price, and in order to satisfy half of the demand the municipality will eventually have to turn into one giant construction company.

I simply don’t see it feasible to do. Apartments are also so expensive in many other cities around the world and you don’t see neither municipalities nor governments intervening, on the other hand the transportation system is enhanced so that people can adapt to living in surrounding areas. And this brings us to the next point…

Transportation

Beirut Madinati wants to enhance the transportation system around the capital by introducing new bus lines and reorganizing the already operating buses, micros buses, and taxis.

This is seriously much needed in Beirut, and I would give up using my car during weekdays if there was a reliable system to get me in and out of the city. But I highly doubt the Beirut Madinati people have previously tried using public transportation and know how the buses around Beirut work because they apparently think their plan is going to be easy to implement.

Truth is that the transportation system in and out of Beirut is actually ruled by mafias. Those who use it know better about the clashes that happen between drivers over a certain line, and how the departure time of each bus is set deliberately by designated agents on the road in order to maximize the number of passengers. Needless to say, these mafias are backed by political parties, and everything that works the same way is very hard to fix. The ongoing case of illegal internet is the biggest example about that.

Do you seriously think the “van ra2em 4” gang is going to abide by any new system? Dream on.

Green Areas and Parking Spaces

This is not exclusive to Beirut Madinati, actually every candidate is promising more green areas and parking spaces around Beirut. Beirut Madinati is going the extra mile of promising a green space for each neighborhood in Beirut.

I seriously would like to know how on earth are we going to create a new green space in Tarik El-Jadida, Mar Elias, Ras El Nabeh, Basta, and other neighborhoods where there are barely any lot left that is large enough to accommodate a 150m2 apartment building. It would be good to support these promises with a map showing the locations of the parks to be.

As for parking spaces, I think it would be enough to just claim back the hijacked spaces from valet parking thugs in several areas of Beirut. That alone would be a major achievement for the new municipality.

I’m still voting for Beirut Madinati

Yes I do have some reservations over their electoral program, hell I even disliked some of their candidates, but I’m voting for them because I’m bored of the same party ruling the city for 18 years now with no significant achievements.

I’m voting for Beirut Madinati neither for an affordable apartment in Beirut, nor a better transportation system, I actually lost hope that things would get better in this corrupt country, I just want them to come in power because we have the right to try someone new and see how they are going to manage the available resources and proceed with new projects for the better of our city.

And you also have nothing to lose, it isn’t like the previous council did wonders to you, so give other people a chance and vote for Beirut Madinati.

Beirut Hippodrome in Danger of Closing Down?

By Rami on March 23, 2016 in Lebanon

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I was a bit surprised to read this news on several news outlets reporting that Beirut Hippodrome is facing financial difficulties and is in danger of closing down due to lack of funding by the municipality of Beirut.

According to the report, the mayor of Beirut Bilal Hamad is reluctant to invest additional money in the racecourse because betting that is prohibited in Islam takes place there, which sounds quite absurd to me. Regardless if a religion prohibits a certain practice or not, if it is legal by the law then no one should be allowed to keep people from practicing it, otherwise it’s definitely a case of abuse of power.

Better yet, Hamad said he will authorize additional funds to Beirut Hippodrome only if it was turned into what he calls “Beirut Central Park” consisting of a golf course and a riding school. So he basically wants to shut down the racecourse and turn it into a second park just like Horsh Beirut where no one is allowed most time of the week.

If things continued to go downhill for the Hippodrome, then it won’t be weird to read about some development company taking over it someday and starting some mega structure there, just like the resort that was planned in Ramlet El Bayda a couple of years ago.

At a time when we still can’t figure a permanent solution for our garbage, I know this is isn’t a priority but governmental institutions should really consider maintaining places like Beirut Hippodrome before they deteriorate further. I recently came across the below photo of the Sports City Stadium on Facebook and it looked absolutely awful, notice the missing seats in the stands area. We deserve a bit better than that for our tax money!

Sanayeh Garden Renovation

By Rami on April 1, 2014 in Lebanon

Sanayeh Garden is currently being renovated by Azadea Foundation and is set to open again in May 2014 if all went as planned.

A genius solution to the Fiat bridge

By Rami on September 7, 2012 in What the fuck!

You probably have all heard about the closure of the Fiat bridge a couple of weeks ago due to a defect in its structure causing some massive traffic jam for a few days.

Shortly after restoring it the bridge was reopened again with a genius solution to prevent crossing trucks from crossing it, two huge and dangerous concrete separators were put at each of the two entries of the bridge, and they’re BARELY visible at night that I almost crashed my car into one of them a few days ago!

So next time you’re at Corniche El-Nahr, just be careful when you’re about to cross the Fiat bridge.

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