The Beirut Port, which suffered massive damage due to the 2020 explosion, is still gradually recovering.
This article was originally published in, translated from Lebanese newspaper Asharq al-Awsat.
About four months before the third anniversary of the disaster that shook the Lebanese capital, practical steps began to take shape to rebuild the sections that are still damaged through the agreement of the Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport, Ali Hamieh, with the World Bank to secure financing for consulting companies to prepare books of conditions for an international tender for outsourcing reconstruction process.
Hamieh revealed, in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, that this understanding with the World Bank was completed about two weeks ago, provided that the books of conditions, after being prepared, are referred to the port's board of directors for approval, and then to the Public Procurement Authority before launching a global tender for reconstruction.
He Pointed out that the port is currently operating with a large capacity, and its monthly revenues have increased from 400 thousand US dollars to 10 million US dollars, but "what we aspire and seek is to fully operate the port and make the optimal investment for every square meter in it."
Hamieh explained that the enthusiasm expressed by some countries after the August 4 explosion in terms of rebuilding the port has not been translated into reality, as there are no serious propositions in this field, explaining that "although the port's revenues have increased and may allow for the reconstruction of the port's "self-construction," we ultimately need companies to invest in the port."
He added that the reconstruction process is supposed to be accompanied by defining the role of the port and whether it will remain for internal consumption or have a pivotal role after the significant geopolitical changes in the region.
The Minister of Public Works via Asharq Al-Awsat indicated that he is working to define this role for the next 30 years by linking it to Arab ports, speaking of an item he submitted to the Council of Arab Ministers of Transport on studying the reality of Arab ports, their size, capacity, and the possibility of interconnection with each other, and it was approved and will be expanded during the upcoming meeting at the end of the month.
Sami Nader, Director of Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, considers that "Lebanon's ports can be a huge economic locomotive due to the expansion of the Lebanese waterfront, which many countries do not enjoy."
Nader believes that "it is wrong to think about the reconstruction of the Beirut port in isolation from a general vision of the Lebanese ports and the Lebanese economy," noting that "this is also supposed to precede defining the role of Beirut because the port is ultimately part of the city."
In turn, the former director of the port of Beirut, Bassem Al Qaisi, estimated the port's losses as a result of the explosion at 350 million US dollars, noting that the World Bank estimated the total losses of the explosion that destroyed large parts of the Lebanese capital at about 8 billion US dollars, while local officials said that the losses Approximately $15 billion.