The President of the Property Owners’ Union, Patrick Rizkallah, recalled that the syndicate had repeatedly appealed to the Lebanese state regarding the need to draw up a plan to save buildings. He put forward the figure of ten thousand buildings at risk in Beirut alone.
“Where are the draft laws to save these buildings? Where is the inspection?” he asked in a statement.
He also claimed that “a large number of rented buildings are at risk of collapsing at any moment because landlords are unable to renovate them,” pointing out that the authorities “are delaying the application of the new rent law for non-residential parts, which is legally in force, instead of publishing it in the Official Gazette to make it a tool to help landlords regain the ability to rehabilitate.”
The union’s president called on the relevant authorities to show compassion for landlords and tenants and publish this law instead of “violating the constitution and depriving the landlord of his most basic rights.”
Rizkallah urged Parliament to convene immediately and take steps to protect residents through preventive legislation, the first of which is to release the owners of old rented buildings from liability, and to ask the heads of municipalities to evacuate buildings at risk of collapse, particularly in Beirut, Tripoli, Saida and major cities.
