WTF
Lojine Kamel

New Highway Reconstruction Plans Call For Demolition of Achrafieh Homes

Proposing a new solution to the headache-inducing traffic in Achrafieh, the Council for Development and Reconstruction is pumping out $60 million on highway reconstruction plans.

The bridge atop the Charles Malek Avenue will be extended to eventually connect the Hazmieh highway in to the Charles Helou highway in Beirut.

Reported by The Daily Star, the “Fouad Boutros Project” is estimated to be completed in 2016, but not without taking down a few residential homes with it.

Apparently $30 million is reserved to the unfortunate owners of certain Achrafieh and Mar Mikhael apartment buildings, with no other alternative being offered.

A slew of activists have raised their voices against the project, with an anonymous protester remarking: “This project has not been studied properly and it goes contrary to Ashrafieh’s structure.”

So the question remains: does $60 million and a possible reduction in traffic make up for the destruction of homes and the inconvenience to Achrafieh residents?

I’ve got no idea.