Lebanese Officials Concerned with Possible Delay in Forming New Govt.

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by aawsat.com -- Lebanese lawmakers expressed on Saturday their conviction that a new government will not be formed any time soon given current obstacles. Strong Republic bloc MP Ziad al-Hawwat said that speeding up the formation of the cabinet was “more than necessary.” He stated that it was key to restarting work in Lebanon, adding that it sends a “positive” message to Lebanese expatriates and Arabs, which will consequently revive the economy during the summer season. Liberation and Development bloc MP Anwar al-Khalil underlined the need to form a national unity government that brings together all Lebanese parties and reflects the results of the May 6 parliamentary elections. He doubted that the cabinet would be formed soon, citing the “behavior of some politicians.” The lawmaker believed, however, that obstacles hindering the formation process will be resolved, “but this will take time.” The formation of the majority of Lebanese governments has been hindered by various obstacles over the years, Khalil noted. Baath party MP Qassem Hashem hoped that the formation would not take too long, “especially since the Lebanese are suffering from pressing economic and daily circumstances.” “Officials are, therefore, required to form a homogeneous and national unity government,” he added.

Live Love Recycle, a « 100% social solution » to waste crisis

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thenationonlineng.net -- Wearing a helmet, elbow and knee pads, his yellow security jacket reflecting the sun that has come out after a rainy afternoon, Ibrahim rides his e-bike through the chaos of traffic in Beirut. The young man might be dressed like a delivery boy, but he has nothing to deliver – rather, he collects. Ibrahim is one of 400 collectors of the Live Love Recycle project, which provides Beirut’s citizens with a free, on-demand service picking up recyclables. The Live Love Recycle initiative is more than welcome in the Lebanese capital, where waste of all kinds is thrown away unsorted in a single plastic bag, ending up either in coastal landfill likely followed by the Mediterranean Sea, or else being burned in the streets. So far, the Lebanese government has failed to create an efficient waste management system that would be both environmentally friendly and mindful of citizens’ health and well-being. Yet the Lebanese are no quitters. The country’s 2015 waste crisis sparked massive protests and lasted for eight months, until the government finally introduced a temporary plan. However, it also enabled the creation of several alternative projects to deal with the issue. One of these was Live Love Recycle, launched by Georges Bitar, a member of Live Love Lebanon, an NGO that supports the environment, communities and culture. “In 2015, thousands of people protested against the trash crisis. It was a very understandable reaction. But at Live Love we do not like to complain; we prefer action. It runs in our blood,” explained the 30-year-old. Looking for ways to finance his project, he contacted the French NGO ACTED (Agency for technical cooperation and development), which eventually became a partner. He also reached out to the United Nations World Food Program, which now funds and supports the project.

After months of paperwork, recruitment and training of collectors, the service started operations in Beirut on April 9, 2018. To gain access, a user must download the Live Love Recycle mobile application. Two clicks and a half-hour later, an e-bike comes to the doorstep to pick up the household’s recyclable waste (paper, cardboard, plastic, metal and cans). “I was already used to sorting my waste, but since I had to take it to the recycling center myself, I was less involved. Now that I’m using Live Love Recycle, I pay attention to waste sorting again,” explained Zeinab Ajami, who has used the service several times. Later, the collected waste gets delivered to another Lebanese NGO, arcenciel, for proper disposal. “What I like most about this job is that we contribute to protecting the environment,” said the collector Ibrahim. Like him, every one of the 400 recyclable material collectors is Syrian. Some of them willingly volunteer for extra unpaid hours, enjoying the friendly, family-like atmosphere at the Live Love Recycle’s control center – a warehouse where more than 50 e-bikes and four tuk-tuks are parked. Every day at noon, about 20 women recruited and trained for the project prepare hot meals for the collectors. They gather each morning in groups of six or seven at one of their homes and prepare more than 80 meal platters. Mirna Toutayo, a housewife and mother of three teenagers who cooks for Live Love Recycle, said the salary she receives “helps tremendously to cover the family’s expenses.” “Providing hundreds of job opportunities to women and people coming from vulnerable communities makes Live Love Recycle a 100% social initiative,” said Bitar, who is determined to continue on this path.

Bitar is full of ideas for the future. But he is also aware that developing his project will take time. Working in collaboration with the Municipality of Beirut, he wants to start by setting up a dozen waste bins throughout the city, painted in the project’s colors. “With those bins, we can reduce the collection time and increase its pace until we are able to collect 20,000 bags a day,” he said. Bitar is optimistic about the project’s sustainability, while noting that “Ideally, the government should launch a similar initiative.” Hadi Mahdi, Live Love Recycle’s Operations Manager, added: “When a project is good, there is always a way to ensure its future.”

Middle East Airlines launches direct flights to Madrid

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by en.annahar.com -- BEIRUT: Middle East Airlines launched its first direct flight to Madrid on Saturday from Beirut’sRafiq Hariri International Airport. A number of Lebanese officials were on board Flight #24, including caretaker Ministers Nouhad al-Mashnouq, Jamal al-Jarrah, Youssef Fenianos and Melhem Riachi, as well as Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Ministry Director-General Hani Shmeitili, Tourism Ministry Director-General Nada al-Sardouk and Economy Ministry Director-General Alya Abbas, alongside several other prominent officials. For his part, Riachi praised MEA and its Chairman Mohamed al-Hout "who undertook this initiative move, which began with Spain, but will also include Portugal, Argentina and other Latin American countries. » Fenianos also highlighted the economic benefit of this move, which will boost the tourism as "bookings have increased by approximately 80 percent.

Lebanon's trade deficit down by 6.1 pct in Jan-April

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BEIRUT (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's trade deficit narrowed by 6.1 percent to 5.3 billion U.S. dollars in the first four months of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. Lebanon's Byblos Bank, which released the figures from the Higher Customs Council, attributed the drop in deficit to the year-on-year decrease of 240 million dollars in imports and an increase of 105.2 million dollars in exports. The figures released by the council show that the total value of imports reached 6.4 billion dollars in the first four months of 2018, constituting a decline of 3.6 percent from 6.6 billion dollars in the same period of 2017; while the aggregate value of exports increased by 10.9 percent year-on-year to 1.1 billion dollars in the covered period.

Nassib Ghobril, chief economist and head of the Economic Research and Analysis Department at Byblos Bank, said the import of food and cars decreased the most during this period by 8 percent and 9 percent respectively due to a drop in the purchasing power of people. "The purchasing power of people has weakened following the government's increase in the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 10 percent to 11 percent in addition to a high inflation rate of 6 percent," he told Xinhua News Agency. Ghobril said that the best way to reduce imports in Lebanon is through cutting down the operating costs for manufacturers which will boost local production and improve its competitiveness. "People will then consume more local products while we will be able to export more of our produce," he noted. Byblos Bank's report said that China was the main source of imports with 697.2 million dollars or 10.9 percent of the total in the first four months of 2018, followed by Italy with 548 million dollars (8.6 percent), Greece with 492.7 million dollars (7.7 percent), Germany with 387.4 million dollars (6.1 percent), the United States with 351.2 million dollars (5.5 percent) and Egypt with 231.2 million dollars (3.6 percent). It added that imported goods from China grew by 21.7 percent year-on-year in the covered period and those from Italy rose by 15.4 percent. On the other hand, it noted, imported goods from the United States dropped by 33.1 percent, those from Egypt decreased by 5.1 percent while imports from Greece declined by 4 percent and those from Germany by 1.4 percent year-on-year in the first four months of 2018.

As for exports, the report suggests that they grew by 56.5 percent to Turkey in the first four months of 2018 and exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) increased by 52.2 percent. In contrast, exported goods to Syria dropped by 46.1 percent while those to Saudi Arabia declined by 15.1 percent, exports to South Africa decreased by 14.3 percent and those to Iraq dropped by 7.5 percent year on year in the covered period. Adnan Rammal, member of Beirut Merchants' Association, attributed the decrease in exports to Syria to the drop in consumption of products by the Syrian population caused by their weakened purchasing power. "Also, a big number of Syrians fled the country following the war," he said. Rammal added that the UAE imports high value products from Lebanon such as Jewelries and designers' clothes. "Any change in the value of these products will cause a major change in exports," he said. KEY WORDS:Lebanon

Casino du Liban expects $10M in profit in 2018: Casino president Khoury

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by Rabih K. -- lebaneseexaminer.com --Casino du Liban president Roland Khoury projected the net profits for the establishment to be over $10 million for the fiscal year of 2018. In 2017, the casino rebounded after Khoury took over with a $3 million profit after years of experiencing losses, the Daily Star reports. The casino is majority owned by the government through the Intra Investment Company and is managed by London Clubs International, a subsidiary of Caesars Entertainment Corporation. As a result, the establishment pays lots of taxes on most of their games inside. Khoury said “We pay nearly $40 million in taxes on the slot machines.” He called on tax reform in the country so that the casino will be able to better compete with casinos in Cyprus and around the world. Despite his grievances, many analysts have noted that the expected revenue for 2018 is promising given the small size of Lebanon’s population and where a significant percentage of people do not gamble.

International Community 'Dismayed' at Lebanese Allegations on Syrian Refugees

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BEIRUT (REUTERS) - THE international community is "dismayed by repeated false accusations" that it is working to settle Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Germany's ambassador in Beirut said on Thursday. As Syria's army and allied forces retake more territory, officials have stepped up calls for some of the more than a million refugees registered in Lebanon to go back to parts of Syria where violence has died down, before a deal is reached to end the war. But the international view is that it is not yet safe to return, and Lebanese caretaker foreign minister Gebran Bassil has accused the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, and foreign countries of preventing Syrians returning home. Martin Huth, the German envoy, told Reuters in an emailed statement that the international community was "fully aware of the heavy burden Lebanon is bearing". "Many of us are doing all we can to alleviate the situation," Huth said, citing aid and commitments made to Lebanon through donor conferences and U.N. agencies. He said the international community and the United Nations were "fully committed to an eventual return of refugees to Syria". "At the same time, and while we do not oppose voluntary returns to Syria, conditions in that country, in our view, do not allow for a general and comprehensive return of refugees at this time," he added. In May, Lebanese President Michel Aoun said U.N. and EU comments pointed to "a disguised settlement (of refugees in Lebanon) that contradicts our constitution and sovereignty".

"DIGNIFIED AND SAFE RETURN"

UNHCR has denied trying to stop Syrians going home, saying it supports return when it is safe, and helps to provide documents for those who do choose to go back. "The policy should be allowing, if not encouraging, the dignified and safe return," Bassil said in Geneva on Thursday after meeting UNHCR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi. "I am talking of the category of Syrians who want, willingly, voluntarily, to go back," Bassil told Reuters. "This is the first phase of return." Bassil, Aoun's son-in-law, has frozen applications for residency permits from UNHCR staff in Lebanon. He described the meeting with Grandi as positive but said he was waiting for a "more practical" UNHCR policy on returns. He said he did not intend to stop working with the agency, but added: "If the policy will stay the same, yes, we will take more measures." The multi-sided, seven-year war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced more than 11 million Syrians out of their homes, including nearly 6 million who fled abroad in one of the worst refugee crises of modern times. Aoun told ambassadors on Thursday that "a return has become possible in stages to areas that have become safe and stable in Syria, which are five times the size of Lebanon". One concern for people who want to return is whether they will be conscripted into the military.

Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah said on Thursday it stood "fully ready to cooperate positively to speed up" the issue of returns. The heavily armed Iranian-backed movement has sent thousands of fighters to help the Syrian state claw back control of major cities from rebels and militants. "The return of displaced Syrians to their country, in a voluntary and safe way, requires a responsible approach and we have started to sense promising signs," its parliamentary bloc said in a televised statement. (Reporting By Angus McDowall and Ellen Francis in Beirut and Tom Miles in Geneva; Editing by Kevin Liffey)