A Workshop on the Environmental Status of the Litani River at Beirut Arab University

The Research Center for Environment and Development at Beirut Arab University, Bekaa Site, organized a workshop under the title of The Environmental Status of the Litani River: Problems and Solutions” which aimed to raise the aquatic awareness among people and motivate them to act quickly and take practical measures in order to face the problems from which the Litani suffers.

The workshop that was held on the 28th of March 2012, was attended by MP Dr. Assem Araji, ex-MP Mr. Nazem Nasrallah, ex-Minister of Agriculture Dr. Adel Kortas, Heads of the West, North and Central Bekaa Municipalities in addition to representatives of non-governmental organizations, significant figures and interested audience.

In the workshop, the status of the Litani River Basin was portrayed in terms of its quality, the amount of water available and the key aspects of proper management through worksheets presented by Professor Hamdi Seif, Faculty of Engineering/BAU, Dr. Nabil Amasha, Head of the Environment Unit in the Litani River Authority and Engineer Bassem Sabbagh, Head of the Pollution Control Department in the Ministry of the Environment.

The workshop resulted in calling for the establishment of an agency or a national council that coordinates among the concerned ministries, municipalities, the local community and the Litani Authority to manage the water of the basin, to put an end to the arbitrary environmental violations and to follow up, with the help of the Council for Development and Construction, on the status of the drainage system stations in the basin.