No project, but no public

This article is part of a continuing Executive investigation into public and private lands along Beirut’s western coast. For more stories in this series, click here. When the Ministry of Environment called today for the Municipality of Beirut to deny building permits on Raouche’s coastal Dalieh area, it didn’t faze the owners of the private property. “No construction or any other permit is being or will be sought in the foreseeable future as far as I am aware,” said a representative of the majority land holders. But despite the new apparent roadblock to any development, there’s also no plans to turn the land over to the public. Requesting anonymity to give the first interview in English on the subject, the person managing the property on behalf of GroupMed Holding and Fahd and Hind Hariri — who own most of the land — tells Executive that the owners have no concrete plans