News

The Rene Moawwad Foundation (RMF) launched last Monday its initiative entitled ‘Towards Sustainable Energy Consumption in Select Local Communities of Northern Lebanon’. The EU-funded project targets the towns of Ardeh, Harf Ardeh, Beit Awkar and Beit Obeid in Zgharta and aims at promoting awareness on optimizing the use of energy. Ardeh mayor George Naoum stressed in his opening words his municipality’s technical and human capacity support of the project in the following aspects: retrofit 800 street lights with energy-efficient  ‘LED’ bulbs; support the local authority in the solar power lighting of six main areas within the municipality range; select 300 underprivileged households to receive energy packages and supervise the installation of hot water solar systems; protect houses against bad weather conditions and provide them with LED light bulbs and water efficient systems; and finally help the municipality in designing and constructing an eco-friendly and energy efficient municipality house. In this respect, RMF CEO, Michel Moawwad, criticized centralization in the administration of people’s affairs stating that it has proved futile, especially in Lebanon. He pointed to the living example of the current waste management crisis. This, he said, is another indication of the need for a full-scale decentralized system that gives local authorities wider powers, while encouraging transparency and accountability as well as promoting real development in all parts of Lebanon. (Al Mustaqbal, 4 August 2015)

The Ministry of Economy and Trade said in a statement that the start of the collection of the wheat harvest, at the set prices, and the settlement of payments to farmers, depend on decisions made on the decisions to be made by Cabinet’s and based on the Ministry’s proposal. The statement was issued after farmers’ protests that were echoed by various media channels highlighting their demand for speeding the process. The Ministry said it has forwarded the matter to the Council of Ministers’ Presidency early last February ahead of the normal time schedule followed in the previous years. The ministry confirmed it will start implementing the decision of the cabinet as soon as it is passed. (As Safir, August 4, 2015)

The head of the Judicial Aid Committee at the Beirut Bar Association lawyer George Fiany headed a BBA delegation to the women’s prison in Baabda. The visit is the first step towards the implementation by the Bar of a project aimed at setting up legal aid centers within prisons in collaboration with the social associations operating in those prisons. Fiany told An Nahar newspaper that the Bar has delegated him last year to assess the legal needs of detainees, especially those incapable of hiring an attorney. These include people with special needs, senior citizens, patients among other cases. Fiany indicated however that the financial aspect of the project has not been settled. As for the choice of the Baabda prison for women to kick off the project, Fiany clarified that this came after many solicitations which the Committee received concerning the particularly dreadful conditions in that prison despite its few number of inmates. An Nahar noted that the prison houses some 88 women inmates divided on nearly 8 cells of which the largest has an area of some 20 square meters. Each cell accommodates 19 inmates, with less than half sleeping on beds and the rest on the floor. Furthermore, the cells contain a small but elevated opening that barely allows any sunlight in addition to the poor ventilation which encourages the spread of diseases. The newspaper indicated that the management of the prison was not providing the basic needs. Meals for example were offered in containers used for paint and there were no time for recreation. Moreover, the old prison building was part of Baabda’s state hospital and therefore is not equipped to accommodate prisoners. (An Nahar, 1 August 2015)

A new center for the ‘Women’s Academy’ at the Safadi Foundation was inaugurated last Friday in the Old Serail quarter of Tripoli, in the presence of Sally Jreij, Miss Lebanon 2014. Over 100 women from the capital of the North partook in the opening which comes after the success of the pilot center in Dahr Al Mughr which contributed to the empowerment of more than 500 children and women each year, during the past 8 years. To this effect, the director of the Women’s Academy Center, Marwa Malqi noted that the opening of new premises in a different area aimed at replicating the successful Dahr Al Mughr experience in a new environment. Likewise, director of the Safadi Foundation Social Development Sector, Samar Boulos, announced that the social sector of the association has started implementing new project which focuses on carrying out a social diagnosis of living realities in Old Tripoli in order to produce a development plan based on the needs and priorities of local inhabitants. Miss Lebanon, for her part, underlined her commitment to women cause and to defend women in all their social roles as mothers, daughters, wives, friends, lovers, workers, housewives, entrepreneurs and particularly marginalized, tormented and oppressed women. (An Nahar, 1 August 2015)

Apparently, plans to support the export of agricultural and industrial products by sea planned for August 1st is faltering, preventing the sea exporting of nearly 150 thousand tons of goods and putting at risk the entire agricultural season. The President of the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL) Nabil Itani informed Al Mustaqbal newspaper that the recently approved Cabinet decree aiming at supporting exports was not signed yet and hence IDAL cannot kick off work for lack of funds. The Cabinet has earlier agreed to subsidize some provide a financial subsidy of LBP 21 billion to support additional cost of maritime export. Informed sources told the newspaper that decrees to become effective normally require the signatures of the president of the republic, the prime minister and the concerned minister, but in the prevailing situation of presidency vacuum, the PM and the concerned minister need to sign along with 18 other ministers, that constitute two thirds of the council of ministers. Any delay in implementing the above mechanism undoubtedly will have negative impact on the agricultural, Itani explained, pointing that IDAL is presently preparing a study on anticipated losses to the national economy, particularly in the agricultural and industrial sectors, as a result of the delay. He also referred to individual efforts by some large farmers and exporters who are preparing for the transport of their goods by sea through sea containers that are destined to Arab countries. He indicated that the first sea container vessel will leave the Port of Tripoli next Monday. (Al Mustaqbal, 31 July 2015)

The School of Tourism and Hotel Management at the Lebanese University organized a seminar on promoting sustainable tourism in Bkaseen, in the Jezzine area and that within the framework of the ‘Highland’ project funded by the EU. The event was held at the University’s Central Administration under the patronage of LU President Dr. Adnan Sayyid Hussein. Head of the Master Section at the School, Dr. Ghada Salem outlined the objective of the project which aims at encouraging the use of technology in enhancing the natural and cultural landmarks within tourist areas and thus contribute to the process of sustainable development. Dr. Hussein said the purpose of the undertaking this initiative is not only to train students, but also to profile Lebanon as a nation as well as its nature. He hoped that similar initiatives can be replicated in other parts of the country for wider impact. For his part, engineer Ali Khreis aided by graphics and charts explained the project’s goals and achievements and the needed future complementary steps. To close, students Hiba Aridi, Samah Jaafar, Rasha Khatib and Deyou Asaad gave a detailed presentation of the project. (An Nahar, 31 July 2015)

Regie Lebanon (La Regie Libanaise Des Tabacs & Tombacs) in collaboration with the municipality of Rmeish organized a contest in tobacco leaves threading for women at the town’s square in the presence of Mayor Rasheed Haj and his deputy Michel Chufani. Also attending the one-hour event were members of the municipality and the town’s heads, Daher Choufani, Raymond Makhoul and Elie Chufani in addition to Regie staff and members of the local Rmeish community. During the context, Marta Al Alam came first followed successively by Maryam Al Alam, Hanneh Jeryus, Umeima Al Alam and Christine Haj. The first six women winners received awards from the jury and thanked the municipality and the Regie administration for the motivating event. (Al Mustaqbal, 31 July 2015)

The project for the Revival and Rehabilitation of the Milk Sector in the Bekaa and Hermel-Akkar was concluded yesterday in the presence of General Director of Agriculture Ministry Louis Lahoud representing Minister Akram Chehayeb. Lauding the success of the initiative, Lahoud noted its key accomplishments, mainly, ensuring a raise in the price and quality of the produced milk and a parallel decline by 85% in the level of milk return by dairy products companies for low quality. Lahoud went on to say that since its inception in 2009, the project achieved a high level of competence which brought about a significant leap in the sector during a relatively short period of time. This, Lahoud underlined, has motivated involved authorities to extend the terms of the project for two additional years so as to allow it to further extend the size of its beneficiaries. Lahoud summarized the specific achievements of the project as follows: 1) Scope of work: The project has targeted over two thirds of the Lebanese territory, covering nearly 80-85% of the total number of milking cows. 2)  Beneficiaries: It has targeted small dairy farmers to ensure thee development of their enterprises, noting that 78% of the total 3750 dairy farmers in Lebanon come from poor or extremely poor communities. 3)  Role of rural women: Particular attention was given to women who constitute about 17% of the total dairy farmers. This has enabled the project to support some 350 households whose breadwinners are women, through the provision of small and medium processing tools. 4)  Development of cooperatives: The project led to the setting up of 32 dairy product cooperatives run by over 300 farmers. 5) Capacity building: the project trained some 2000 dairy farmers in various areas such as adherence to hygiene in the processing of milk, raising awareness about nutrition factors of milk production, in addition to the printing and distribution of some 20000 guidebooks and educational posters. (Al Mustaqbal, 30 July 2015)