BEIRUT: The head of the Higher Relief Committee met Wednesday with mayors of Lebanon's northern Dinnieh region, pledging to speed up procedures to compensate those who suffered losses due to last week’s flooding.
“All we need is collaboration between us, and we will support you to repair the damages and give compensation for the damages according to the available resources," Maj. Gen. Mohammad Kheir told the mayors in a meeting held at the Bakhoun municipality office.
The remarks published in a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency.
Kheir said that Prime Minister Tammam Salam is following up on the matter and will seek the approval of his Cabinet Thursday to provide urgent relief worth 30 to 40 percent of the damages.
Kheir asked the area’s municipalities to cooperate, saying many international donors had pledged to fund the relief effort.
But the chief of Dinnieh’s League of Municipalities Mohammad Saadieh called for more drastic measures.
“We do not ask for compensation, because we have been adapting every year with the damages of disasters,” Saadieh said. “Giving compensation is not a successful policy. What we need is the existence of good infrastructure enabling us to confront any natural disaster."
The Dinnieh area, he explained, suffered horrible consequences as a result of last week’s floods, including the collapse of parts of the sanitation network causing sewers to spew into agricultural lands and potable water sources. The floods also destroyed many roads and houses, he added.
“One of the main reasons the recent disaster [had severe consequences] is the poor implementation of projects in our area,” Saadieh said, calling on the relief committee to address the Cabinet with an urgent call for infrastructural development projects in Dinnieh.
Saadieh’s deputy, Hussein Harmoush, accused the Ministry of Energy and Water, and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport of partial responsibility.
He said the two ministries failed to clean and prepare the canals and pipelines before the winter season, causing blockages.
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