Govt. agrees to demolish port silos, approves funds for wheat, medicine

Govt. agrees to demolish port silos, approves funds for wheat, medicine

Cabinet on Thursday agreed to demolish the blast-hit silos at Beirut’s port, which according to a technical report are facing the threat of collapse, as it approved the use of funds from the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights for importing wheat and incurable disease medicines.

“The banking secrecy law will be re-discussed at the next Cabinet session,” Information Minister Ziad Makari said after the meeting.

“The Council for Reconstruction and Development has been tasked with overseeing the demolition of wheat silos at Beirut’s port, while the Ministry of Culture has been tasked with setting up a memorial at the site,” Makari added.

Al-Jadeed TV meanwhile reported that Cabinet agreed that Special Drawing Rights funds can only be used for urgent matters and that any such move would require a Cabinet decision

Cabinet decided to approve the port silos’ demolition based on a recommendation from the Khatib & Alami engineering firm.

Experts had warned that a section of the grain silos that absorbed much of the August 4, 2020 Beirut port blast must be demolished to avoid collapse

Swiss company Amann Engineering, which has offered laser scanning assistance to Lebanon since the cataclysmic explosion, called the most damaged of the disemboweled silos an "unstable, moving structure."

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