Lebanon, a victim of fear and despair

The nightmare continues.  The economic crisis in the country of cedars has unleashed anger among the population. The acting head of the Ministry of Economy, Raoul Nehme, announced on Wednesday that "there is no bread crisis" in the country, after the explosion that occurred more than a week ago destroyed the silos that stored wheat in the port of the capital.  "The reserves are sufficient for four months," the minister said. 

Lebanese society is trying to recover from the explosion that occurred more than a week ago in the port of Beirut, while rumours continue to circulate. The latest rumour concerns a deposit of ammonium nitrate which, according to some reports, could be stored at the Zouk Mikael thermal power station in the Kesrouan region of Mount Lebanon, according to the information provided by deputy Shamil Roukoz, son-in-law of President Michel Aoun and the mayor of the region, Elias El-Bainou. 

The Ministry of Energy, for its part, has confirmed that the substance stored in this thermal power plant is not ammonium nitrate.  In an official statement, the Ministry replied to MP Roukoz by stating that "this information is incorrect" and clarified that the percentage of this product in the Zouk plant "is very small, does not explode and does not burn". However, according to information available to the digital Al Ain, the judiciary issued a decision to destroy this material, which has raised doubts about its danger. 

After learning of the presence of these materials, the Attorney-General of the Supreme Court, Judge Ghassan Aweidat, issued a decision to remove the hazardous products from the Zouk thermal laboratory and destroy them using scientific methods, as the quantity reached about 3,974 kg of hazardous substances. According to sources to which Al Ain has had access, the ammonium nitrate stored at this plant could "lead to a new disaster", which is why the judiciary of the country of cedars has decided to issue an order to destroy them. 

Demonstrations over the presence of these materials have not stopped, according to several local media who have explained that the materials were moved from the Zouk Mikael area to the Kfardebian area on Mount Lebanon, causing people in the region to organize protest vigils. Under the circumstances, the authorities decided to return the materials to Zouk Mikael, also sparking anger among the people in the area. 

The country of cedars has once again fallen victim to fear and despair. In this scenario, there are more and more testimonies that claim to have warned the Lebanese government about the danger of ammonium nitrate. In 2016, four years before the explosion in Beirut caused chaos and injured more than 6,000 people, a United States government official expressed concern to a Lebanese port official about the unsafe storage of a number of volatile chemicals, the Arab News newspaper said. He noted weaknesses in security camera coverage and warned of poor ventilation in the hangar where the ammonium nitrate was stored. This testimony is further evidence that some political and security officials were aware of the thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate being stored in the Beirut port warehouse. 

A wave of protests has again taken over the capital of the country this Tuesday. Violence was once again the main feature of these demonstrations, which were marked by clashes between some of those present and the Lebanese police, which ended with at least 42 people injured in various ways.  The Lebanese Red Cross has said that it had to transfer ten of these people to hospitals, while the rest received health care on the spot. 

Indignation has been accompanied by sadness. This Wednesday, dozens of people marched through the country's capital to the port in tribute to all those who lost their lives a week ago in this disaster. "We have lit candles, greeted the members of the Civil Defense, the firemen, the Red Cross, doctors and all the Lebanese who helped in the streets," a 26-year-old who participated in the call explained to the EFE agency Hamza. "Today we have been scared and in pain for a week, in shock. There are people who have not yet left their homes," he added.