“5,000 homes, 1,200 of which are in the north, are at risk of collapse,” declared Sajih Atiyeh, head of the Public Works Committee and parliamentarian, on Saturday.
“This number was provided by only 40 percent of the municipalities,” said Atiyeh in an interview with the radio station “Sawt Kel Lebnen” (Voice of All Lebanon).
The MP described this staggering number as “catastrophic and requiring a large budget.”
Regarding the current working mechanisms to prevent recurring disasters, he clarified that municipalities are unable to carry out the necessary maintenance for crumbling buildings with the current “crumbling economic situation.”
To address the situation, Atiyeh said he was currently drafting a law that would require technical inspections and renewal of building permits every five years, based on the condition of each building.
To recall, a three-story building collapsed in Choueifat on February 20, resulting in four deaths and leaving four others in critical condition. This tragic event preceded the fall of another five-story building in Choueifat nine days earlier without causing casualties.
On another note, concerning the state of roads, Atiyeh said that the required amount for the rehabilitation of all roads is approximately $350 million. He considered that the $100 million budget allocated for road rehabilitation for the year 2024 was acceptable “for “road maintenance.” This means that most of the potholes that result in tragic accidents could be repaired before the summer.
The head of YASA (Youth Association for Social Awareness), Ziad Akl, also warned that Lebanon was “facing a deteriorating infrastructure network,” pointing out that “the culture of maintenance was absent in Lebanon.”
Also with “Sawt Kel Lebnen,” Akl declared that “road safety is not among the priorities of decision-makers,” explaining that “mechanical inspections have stopped, and self-inspections have declined due to Lebanon’s economic situation.”
