Jayme
February 12th, 2008, 11:44 PM
BEIRUT: The authorities leading the rebuilding of the war-torn Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in North Lebanon launched the reconstruction's master plan on Tuesday, but they did not release the plan to the public and they have yet to gain full access to the area of the camp hit hardest by the conflict there in mid-2007.
Without a firm budget or timetable for the rebuilding, Tuesday's launch ceremony at the Grand Serail served largely to remind various groups - potential donors, displaced camp residents and Lebanese worried about the refugees' permanent resettlement - that the reconstruction of the battered camp is moving forward.
"The reason behind this press conference is to show a very strong message to the Palestinians, to the Lebanese and the whole world that the government of Lebanon has delivered on its promise to rebuild Nahr al-Bared," Ambassador Khalil Makkawi, head of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee and one of those who spoke at Tuesday's event, told The Daily Star.
Since the three-month battle between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Fatah al-Islam militants at the camp, many Palestinians have voiced fears that the camp would not be rebuilt, but on Tuesday Lebanese officials emphasized the inevitability of the reconstruction.
"The rebuilding of Nahr al-Bared is now a certainty," said Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. "The return of the temporarily displaced is assured."
Siniora also took pains to try to dispel rumors - taken as a certainty by many in the opposition - that the governing coalition wants to resettle Palestinian refugees permanently in Lebanon and grant them Lebanese citizenship. Naturalizing the roughly 300,000 refugees here - the vast majority of whom are coreligionists of the Sunni Siniora - would markedly alter Lebanon's long-fractious sectarian equation.
The premier also said rebuilding Nahr al-Bared's old camp - the area which suffered the most destruction during the battle - would cost $174 million. His figure did not diverge from estimates released in November by the government's favored construction firm Khatib and Alami, which placed total camp reconstruction costs at about $250 million. Adding projected tabs for rebuilding six surrounding Lebanese communities, as well as relief funding to see the affected Palestinians and Lebanese through the rebuilding period, the firm put the overall cost of the recovery at about $382.5 million.
Karen AbuZayd, commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which works with Palestinian refugees in the Levant, said on Tuesday that the rebuilding could be completed by 2010, although she acknowledged that the LAF had not yet told UNRWA when the agency can begin removing rubble from the old camp.
UNRWA will approach donors to kick in for the reconstruction within the next two months, and on Tuesday AbuZayd stressed the enormity of the endeavor facing her agency.
"The reconstruction of Nahr el Bared camp will be by far the biggest single project undertaken by UNRWA," she said. "The master plan will be a vehicle for funding the reconstruction of Nahr al-Bared, and we hope donors will respond generously to our call for assistance. Now that the master plan is ready, we shall begin planning for a donor conference.
"We have an immense challenge in front of us. Reconstructing the Nahr al-Bared camp will require a massive effort, and it will be a long undertaking. What we must do is build a whole town out of the ashes of the old: houses, mosques and places of business, allowing thousands of people to return to the place they have called home for decades. This will not be easy, and we should be aware of the difficulties that may lie ahead."
UNRWA and its partners still need to add specific building designs to the master plan, said UNRWA public information officer Hoda Samra Souaiby. The reconstruction will then proceed in phases, with building going on in less-damaged camp sectors while other areas are being cleared and prepared for construction, she added.
"It will be a gradual process," Souaiby said. "This is a preliminary master plan that we new still need to develop, to work on further. It was very important to show that we are moving ahead, that there will be reconstruction."
Dailystar
Without a firm budget or timetable for the rebuilding, Tuesday's launch ceremony at the Grand Serail served largely to remind various groups - potential donors, displaced camp residents and Lebanese worried about the refugees' permanent resettlement - that the reconstruction of the battered camp is moving forward.
"The reason behind this press conference is to show a very strong message to the Palestinians, to the Lebanese and the whole world that the government of Lebanon has delivered on its promise to rebuild Nahr al-Bared," Ambassador Khalil Makkawi, head of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee and one of those who spoke at Tuesday's event, told The Daily Star.
Since the three-month battle between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Fatah al-Islam militants at the camp, many Palestinians have voiced fears that the camp would not be rebuilt, but on Tuesday Lebanese officials emphasized the inevitability of the reconstruction.
"The rebuilding of Nahr al-Bared is now a certainty," said Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. "The return of the temporarily displaced is assured."
Siniora also took pains to try to dispel rumors - taken as a certainty by many in the opposition - that the governing coalition wants to resettle Palestinian refugees permanently in Lebanon and grant them Lebanese citizenship. Naturalizing the roughly 300,000 refugees here - the vast majority of whom are coreligionists of the Sunni Siniora - would markedly alter Lebanon's long-fractious sectarian equation.
The premier also said rebuilding Nahr al-Bared's old camp - the area which suffered the most destruction during the battle - would cost $174 million. His figure did not diverge from estimates released in November by the government's favored construction firm Khatib and Alami, which placed total camp reconstruction costs at about $250 million. Adding projected tabs for rebuilding six surrounding Lebanese communities, as well as relief funding to see the affected Palestinians and Lebanese through the rebuilding period, the firm put the overall cost of the recovery at about $382.5 million.
Karen AbuZayd, commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which works with Palestinian refugees in the Levant, said on Tuesday that the rebuilding could be completed by 2010, although she acknowledged that the LAF had not yet told UNRWA when the agency can begin removing rubble from the old camp.
UNRWA will approach donors to kick in for the reconstruction within the next two months, and on Tuesday AbuZayd stressed the enormity of the endeavor facing her agency.
"The reconstruction of Nahr el Bared camp will be by far the biggest single project undertaken by UNRWA," she said. "The master plan will be a vehicle for funding the reconstruction of Nahr al-Bared, and we hope donors will respond generously to our call for assistance. Now that the master plan is ready, we shall begin planning for a donor conference.
"We have an immense challenge in front of us. Reconstructing the Nahr al-Bared camp will require a massive effort, and it will be a long undertaking. What we must do is build a whole town out of the ashes of the old: houses, mosques and places of business, allowing thousands of people to return to the place they have called home for decades. This will not be easy, and we should be aware of the difficulties that may lie ahead."
UNRWA and its partners still need to add specific building designs to the master plan, said UNRWA public information officer Hoda Samra Souaiby. The reconstruction will then proceed in phases, with building going on in less-damaged camp sectors while other areas are being cleared and prepared for construction, she added.
"It will be a gradual process," Souaiby said. "This is a preliminary master plan that we new still need to develop, to work on further. It was very important to show that we are moving ahead, that there will be reconstruction."
Dailystar