“There is news about a suspicious deal that aims to make tens of millions of dollars out of real estate in Ramlet al-Baida, which is the only free public beach in the capital,” the PSP chief said in a statement released two weeks after a Beirut judge ordered the beach’s entrances shut following petitions by private developers. Jumblatt urged Beirut residents to defy the decision and said that he stands “beside them in this rightful confrontation.” The PSP chief decried the continuous cycle of projects that “seek to suffocate the citizens of the capital and deny them the few public spaces left.” He described private developers’ usurpation of Beirut’s public property as attempts to “transform Beirut into cemented real estate wastelands empty of soul and life.” This version of Beirut, according to Jumblatt, only has room for the rich. As for the poor, “their fate is to live in deprivation belts surrounding luxurious neighborhoods.” On June 4, Beirut Judge of Urgent Matters Zalfa al-Hasan issued a decision to cordon off three major sections of the beach that cover roughly 28,000 square meters of Ramlet al-Baida, a popular destination for Beirut’s low-income families who cannot afford the exuberant entrance fees charged at private resorts. Two real estate companies, Mediterranean Real Estate and Bahr Real Estate, both owned by businessman Wissam Ashour, claim ownership of those three sections of the beach. Irad Investment Holding group also owns some shares in those companies. Lebanese laws prevent property owners from erecting buildings on beaches because of the loose terrain. But activists worry that developers could transform sections of Lebanon’s only free beach into luxury projects that cater to the wealthy, similar to what occurred last year when the state fenced off a section of Raouche. The Daily Star
