Lebanon signs agreement with Germany on Beirut Naval Base reconstruction
The Lebanese army signed on Tuesday an agreement with Germany on rebuilding Beirut Naval Base, which was destroyed by Beirut port's huge explosions on Aug. 4, a statement by the Lebanese army reported.
The protocol was signed by German Ambassador to Lebanon Andreas Kindl and Armed Forces Commander General Joseph Aoun.
Kindl said that Germany stands with Lebanese army and intends to develop cooperation in the future in different fields.
For his part, Aoun expressed his "deep appreciation for the German government's initiative, and German soldiers' devotion working within the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon," stressing "consolidating the distinguished relations between the German and Lebanese armies."
Germany's initiative comes after two huge explosions rocked Beirut's port on Aug. 4, destroying a big part of the city while killing around 190 people and wounding at least 6,000 others.
Germany is thus continuing to assist in Lebanon after, for example, the International Labour Organization's ILO Acting Regional Director for the Arab States, Frank Hagemann, and German Ambassador to Lebanon, Andreas Kindl, have met with workers who have been employed under an ILO programme that is helping clear the wreckage of the huge explosion that tore through Beirut in August.
Within days of the blast, the ILO mobilized its on-going Employment Intensive Infrastructure Programme (EIIP), so far creating around 200 decent jobs for Lebanese nationals and Syrian refugees.
The ILO's response is being supported by Germany through the German Development Bank (KfW), which is funding EIIP, and through additional financial support provided by the Netherlands.
"The ILO was able to quickly respond to the blast and its aftermath by creating jobs for Lebanese and Syrian workers in the clear-up works," said Hagemann. "Many of these workers were previously unemployed, and their economic vulnerability was compounded over recent months by the multiple crises affecting Lebanon. With the support of our development partners, the governments of Germany and the Netherlands, we will continue to promote employment and rebuild and restore livelihoods, to help meet the decent work needs of Lebanon and its residents," Hagemann added.
"We appreciate very much the ILO's fast response to direct resources and to direct the assistance they are doing in the employment-intensive infrastructure programme to places like here, close to the blast (...) and have workers working here since almost thirty days, clearing the rubble," Ambassador Kindl said a month ago during the tour of the site. "I have seen that Lebanese and Syrians are working together and I have seen that there is a relatively high percentage of women working on the site which is a very good thing," the German diplomat added.
