On Saturday the 26th of November 2016, activists marched in Lebanon to raise their voices against the violations being made on the only remaining public beach in Beirut; Ramlet al Bayda. This is not the first protest against “Eden Rock”; a private project being established illegally, and threatening the shore that has once been “for all”. Why is defending Beirut’s only public beach so important though?
Protesters demanded the immediate cessation of the “Eden rock” project, mentioning that “this could be done if each public institution completed its duties”. They also demanded the “Immediate cessation of works, due to the construction license’s illegality”.
They asked the Ministry of Works to “be firm in implementing its decisions, by forbidding stealing sands, and stopping infringements against marine public property”.
Their demands also included asking the civil organization to refrain from giving exceptions to the remaining area of Beirut’s beach.
On the other hand, they asked the Interior Ministry and the Internal Security Forces to take immediate actions to stop works at the site, based on the Ministry of Public Works’ decisions. ”
“Greenarea.me” interviewed a number of activists, who have been campaigning and protesting for Ramlet al-Bayda recently. Nizar al Rayes, from the “Big Blue Sea” organization is one of them. He has been entrusted by the Public Institution for land and sea transport to manage Ramlet al-Bayda beach.
Al Rayyes said: “Unfortunately, no one is taking care of this beautiful beach. Many years ago, around 20,000 swimmers used to come here, but now the number has decreased a lot due to corruption and greed”.
Nizar was one of the main people that used to report any violations he observes on the beach to the police, and to civil organizations.
“Perhaps, they can act and do something about it,” he says.
We met Nahida Khalil on the sea shore before the protest started. Khalil was a candidate with “Beirut Madinati” (BM) in the last Municipal elections.
Through the interview, she told us that “BM has been campaigning with engineers and other civil society organizations for Ramlet al-Bayda”, adding that “aerial photographs that go back to the year 1956 show that these properties are within the sea”.
She also mentioned other current aerial photographs show that the current site in question is covered by sea waves, which means, that it belongs to maritime public property, based on the law determining public property”.
“Beirut Madinati” announced in the protest that “Even if we accept documents referring to private ownership of land, property rights do not mean absolute freedom to act or invest”.
“Excavation works are taking place at a non-real estate construction site”, BM’s announcement mentioned. It also included that the area where violations are taking place on public property exceeds 40% of the total area”.
Charbel Nahas, a candidate in “Mouwatinoun wa Mouwatinat fi Dawla” told “greenarea.info” that “We are not protesting for Ramlet al- Bayda only, but we will keep raising our voices against corruption and wrong policies in the country”.
He added that: “Wissam Ashour’s project, the “Eden Rock” is just one out of many examples where violations are being made against public property”.
Protesters chanted in Arabic what means “The beach is for everyone”. A group of men marching with a musical instrument and a couple of hubble bubbles was very remarkable. We asked them what the hookah symbolizes in the protest.
A group of young men came straight from a football match to “Ramlet al Bayda” protest. (Greenarea.me)
“We came directly from a football match we were watching to add some positive vibes to the protest, and to make everyone more enthusiastic about change,” Ahmad el Zein told us.
He added: “But this is not the only reason we are here. We want to ask: Why should we pay 70,000 L.L. if we were caught smoking the hubble bubble on the corniche?!”
Whard Sleiman, an activist who was injured in a previous protest, while defending Ramlet al-Bayda public beach told us: “We are asking to stop all violations on public land”.
Whard Sleiman and his mother holding a banner written on it “Beirut lacks a beach”. (Greenarea.me)
Before “Eden Rock” project started, many people were told to leave their homes, according to what beach goers told us.
Mahmoud Itani, a fisherman who is so passionate about his job, was kicked out of his house. Along with many other family members, he believed that they would be paid a compensation for the damage that was done.
Mahmoud Itani, a fisherman, was kicked out of his kiosk in Ramlet al Bayda. (Greenarea)
“I have been living here all my life… and taking care of the beach, but I was kicked out with my family, without any prior notice”.
Defending Beirut’s only public beach is so important, because first and foremost, Beirut is a Mediterranean city, which means that it is illogical if all the Lebanese do not benefit from their public beach equally. Establishing private projects that violate the law will forbid the Lebanese from enjoying their public beach, and will little by little make Beirut a “concrete city”.
