Beirut Print

Lebanon is a small Mediterranean country and after 15- year civil war that ended in 1990, is living a financial collapse. On August 4th 2020, over two thousand tons of ammonium nitrate, abandoned without any safety measures, exploded at the port of Beirut. The blast killed over 207 people, injured 7,000 and left around 300,000 families homeless. One year after the huge explosion, still with no guilty, Lebanon is facing its worst economic meltdown and social crisis in more than a century. The Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value and prices of consumer goods had nearly quadrupled: lack of medicine, during the covid19 pandemic, fuel and food are pushing the people over rage and desperation, with over 2/3 of population are Syrian refugees. Beirut is under dark at night, there aren’t public illumination nor electricity, only the generators can provide some light. The city still live under control of various religious militia that control almost every neighboords, in a fragile and thin equilibrium far from be solid. This militia clutches the people through the consumer goods. Most of the state's financial problems are linked to the crisis in the supply of raw materials, such as gasoline and fossil fuels: the Lebanese authorities can currently only guarantee two or three hours of energy coverage per day. Private generators are widespread in the homes of those who can afford them. However, the problem is not solved that easily. First of all, private electricity is very expensive and does not guarantee essential public services such as hospitals, schools and transport. It also pollutes a lot, because generators need petrol to work. Even at the environmental level, the situation appears critical. As the Waste Management Coalition and Human Rights Watch pointed out, the country is no longer able to manage its waste; Today the country's main landfills have reached their maximum capacity.