August 4 will mark four years since the Beirut Port explosion that resulted in at least 218 deaths, 7,000 injuries, 300,000 left homeless, and $15 billion in property damage.  

Though the cause of the explosion has been owed to a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the port, an investigation into the details of the blast was put on hold to focus on repairing the damage.

Now, Lebanese and French officials have put forward a plan to rebuild the port, presented by two French engineering firms, Artelia and Egis.

The plan calls for investments of between $50 million and $80 million to rehabilitate and redevelop the port area between the container terminal and the military port.

The reconstruction and redevelopment plan will focus on rebuilding quays damaged in the explosion, reorganizing the port’s layout to streamline traffic, and shifting the facility to solar power.  

Furthermore, Expertise France, a French public agency, conducted an assessment to provide suggestions for improving security at the port.

Although crucial matters are yet to be finalized on the Lebanese side before the plan can be implemented, such as the financing plan, the reform of port governance, and the clearance of waste in the area, 

Lebanon plans to gather finance from the port revenues increase, which reached $150 million in 2023, the port’s Director General Omar Itani said at a press conference.

The Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, said, “We consider France’s support for Lebanon particularly important because it represents the heart of the international community.”

The French Ambassador to Lebanon, Hervé Magro, said that rebuilding the Beirut port is one of France’s priorities in order to support Lebanon. “The Lebanese economy indeed needs a reconstructed, modernized, and secure port of Beirut,” he added.

The plan did not consider the port’s grain silos, as a large portion of them collapsed in 2022. While there were plans to demolish them by the Lebanese government, they were revoked after families of the blast’s victims and survivors protested against it, asking for the silos to be preserved as a memorial, and in the scenario that there is evidence lying there. 

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