Ninety percent of the camp was destroyed, displacing 30,000 people, most of whom fled to the already overcrowded Beddawi camp, about 10 miles away. Others took refuge in schools and mosques.
A recent article in The Guardian describing the camp, says: “Most of the large apartment buildings at the camp have been shredded to their foundations, […buckled] under the weight of giant floor slabs, others collapsed entirely…Bullet holes pepper every face of the ruined landscape… Many walls have been blown away to reveal gutted houses, with charred, splintered furniture dangling over the mess below… The wreckage of luxury cars, now burnt and twisted, recall the prosperity enjoyed by some in Nahr el Barad before the siege…” People who had lived here for many years, were allowed to take only one bag with them when they left.
After the fighting stopped, the looting began. There is nothing left. The Lebanese Army, after checking houses for unexploded ordnance, often blew up the houses.
Before reconstruction can begin, almost 1,000,000 square yards of rubble need to be removed, which will cost $10 million. Fortunately, international donors responded to an emergency appeal and funds are available.
Only 1,000 families have been allowed to return. But they have returned to terribly substandard housing. A contractor hired to build a new six storey apartment block has not gotten windows installed in three of the floors, in December, after months of work. The roof leaks, sending water all the way down to the first floor. I could see cracks between the cinder block walls of the new building. At least, after our visit, heavy plastic, hammers and nails were ordered to be immediately provided for those apartments without windows.
In another area of the camp, residents in some hastily constructed dwellings complained of flooding and no hot water. What they didn’t complain about, or what I didn’t hear, were complaints of schools yet to open for their children, no jobs for the adults, and, of course, no future.
Reconstruction is painfully slow. In order to be accountable to donors, there is a strict procurement process: 1) create budget, 2) get it approved, 3) put items needed up for bid, 4) wait for contractors to bid, 5) get bank guarantees for contractors, 6) evaluate bids at the main office (Beirut), 7) get signatures on contracts, 8) mobilize contractors. And then, as seen in the leaky roofs, monitor every step of the way.
There is money approved to build 1500 temporary houses, but the Lebanese government has not made any land available; the army wants the refugees to stay in a confined area, so land choices are very limited.
The camp borders the Mediterranean, along which I will travel an hour each day to work.
***
In a MUCH lighter vein, here are some signs I have seen along the way and around Beirut:
- Internet Romance Cave (just outside Beddawi Camp)
- Gentle Bag
- Nails and roots (a beauty shop, of course)
- Look and Like
- Rocky Nuts
- I believe in Bata [shoes] Noel
And a fave: the headquarters of Electricite du Liban, with almost half the neon letters dark.
P.S. Still no president!!
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