BEIRUT (AFP) – Come Monday, Beirut city officials hope to help ease the Lebanese capital’s nightmarish traffic congestion with the first parking meters installed since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war. Twenty of the coin- and card-operated machines will be inaugurated in a trendy shopping area of the city centre, which has for the most part been declared off-limits to parking for security concerns.

Colonel Joseph Doueihy, in charge of the traffic department at the interior ministry, told AFP that gradually more units will be installed throughout the capital as part of a major effort to regulate circulation.Funding for the project came from the World Bank."I think enforcement always leads to results because in the end citizens think of the bottom line, of their pockets," Doueihy said.

He said people who fail to feed the meters or who overstay the two-hour limit risk a ticket of 20,000 pounds (about 13 dollars) or even being towed."We have a special police force from the traffic department that will be enforcing the regulations," Doueihy said. "Our aim is to institute order and to ease the city’s traffic chaos."

Shops and businesses along the streets where the parking meters have been installed welcomed the measure, saying it should attract customers who are currently prevented from parking in the area which is roped off."At least with the parking meters, people will be able to stop for five or 10 minutes to carry out their business in the area," said Tony Attallah, a security agent at Bank of Beirut.

At the nearby Timberland clothing store, employee Shafic Shamseddin said he hoped the meters would bring in customers who shy away from coming in right now because of the parking problem.

"I think given the mentality of the Lebanese, the cops are initially going to be giving out a lot of tickets," he said. "But after people get their first ticket, they will have learned a good lesson and will abide by the law."

But Safaa Shaker, who works at Anabel, a craft store, doubted the meters would help ease the city’s traffic nightmare.

"I don’t think people will respect the rules because they are used to chaos," she said. "I think they will try and find a way to beat the system.

"And even if they get tickets, do you really think they will pay them?"

Parking meters existed before the 15-year civil war but were destroyed in the fighting. Traffic lights have also made a tentative return since the conflict.