BEIRUT: The Minister of Public Works has absolved his ministry of any responsibility for street flooding during heavy rain which stranded hundreds of motorists for several hours last week, blaming the failure of drainage systems on private entrepreneurs and other public institutions.
“At least four public areas over which the Ministry has no authority and for which it is not responsible caused the floods,” Minister Ghazi Zeaiter said at a meeting Friday with the ministry’s senior officials.
He explained that the flooding on the coastal highway between Beirut and Jbeil, and the areas of Antelias, Dbayeh, and Nahr el-Mot, was mainly caused by rubble from private construction sites which was washed away by the heavy rains, blocking water drainage systems.
In one instance, mud and rubble from street drillings undertaken by the Ministry of Energy and Water washed away, causing floods in Antelias, Zeaiter said.
“Although the Ministry of Public Works was not responsible at all for the causes of the floods, the Ministry’s teams worked hard and in full capacity to clear the roads and remove the debris caused by the storm to facilitate people’s movement,” Zeaiter was quoted as saying by the National News Agency.
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