On Thursday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Works and Transport withdrew from a contract to expand Beirut’s international airport, after sparking controversy over its legality and transparency. The Minister of Labor and Transportation, Ali Hamiya, announced in a tweet that “despite the importance of the project for the construction of the new passenger terminal, and due to the ongoing legal dispute in the country and to resolve the differences in views, I have announced that we will not continue with the contract and treat it as if it does not exist.”
In his announcement, Hamiya preceded the meeting of the committee for public works, transportation, energy and water in the parliament, which was dedicated to the discussion of the contract for the expansion of the Rafik Hariri International Airport. The last expansion project at Lebanon’s only international airport was completed in 1998.
Hamiya announced last week the signing of a contract for the construction of a new passenger terminal at the airport after “the financing, investments and operations from abroad were obtained… without the state treasury bearing the burden.” The ministry concluded with the Lebanese Air Transport Company (LAT), which has been operating at the Beirut airport for decades, on an agreement “to finance all the components of the project”, according to a value of 122 million dollars, on the condition that a company owned by the Irish government will operate the new terminal for a period of 25 years.