Hamieh cancels new airport terminal project ‘at Hezbollah request’

Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh announced Thursday that a new $122 million terminal at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport will not be implemented.

“Based on a Hezbollah request, I bravely announce that the contract will not be implemented, as if it’s null and void,” Hamieh said, shortly before the parliamentary public works committee convened.

The committee was supposed to discuss the contracting process of the airport’s new terminal.

Last week, Hamieh announced the launch of the new terminal in a ceremony at the grand Serail.

Terminal 2 will bring in private sector investments worth $122 million and will handle 3.5 million passengers annually when operations begin in 2027. It will add six docking stands as well as remote ones, Hamieh said.

The project was criticized by many media outlets and political parties, including the Lebanese Forces, who considered that the mutual agreement between an Irish company and the Lebanese Ministry of Transportation bypassed the laws that require a bidding process.

Source » naharnet