BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt warned Monday against the ongoing demolition of historical buildings in Beirut, calling for legislation to protect heritage sites.
For the second week in a row, Jumblatt dedicated his column at his party’s Al-Anbaa Magazine to call for action against the destruction of old, heritage buildings in Beirut.
“If Beirut’s governor is not responsible for this file and neither is the Ministry of Culture, then who is responsible for protecting the very few remaining heritage buildings in Beirut?,” he pondered.
Jumblatt had blamed Culture Minister Rimon Raymond Areiji and Beirut’s Governor Ziad Chebib last week for the destruction of the historic Art Deco building in Gemmayzeh.
Chebib then responded by explaining that he had asked police to halt the demolition of the eastern section of the building.
As for Areiji, he said he had attempted to stop the demolition but was overruled by the Shura Council, a body that checks the legality of administrative decisions and whose decision is final.
“It is clear that confusion and jurisdiction clashes and legal vagueness are surrounding the issue of the heritage buildings in Beirut, which are falling one after the other,” Jumblatt said.
The Druze leader explained that the Shura Council revoked Areiji’s decision because “the decision did not respect the protocols stated in the 1933 heritage law.”
Jumblatt said such a development was “dangerous,” and meant that the list of protected heritage sites prepared in 1999 will no more have any legal value once challenged at the council.
He accused the council and investors of exploiting the absence of a clear state legislation on the matter in order to replace the historical houses with new projects.
“This means the elimination of what’s left of Beirut’s old memory through some buildings erected here and there, and the transformation of Beirut as a whole to skyscrapers and concrete blocks for commercial and real estate reasons,” he said.
“It is time to move quickly to enact a complete legislating for this file before it’s too late.”
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