Hazardous chemicals have been “still standing” in oil facilities in Tripoli since 2006, when they were transported from the port of Beirut for fear of the possibility of Israel bombing the port following the July War.
The materials distributed in 75 containers are “extremely dangerous,” according to what was described by Salvage Combilift GMBH, which inspected the materials accompanied by the Lebanese Army Engineering Regiment. The company said that these materials are divided between “chemical materials and nuclear materials, the danger of which varies between moderate and severe.”
The first step to removing these materials begins at the oil facilities of the Ministry of Energy, which was very late in holding a tender to remove them. In this context, the Ministry refused to hold it responsible for the delay, and explained in a statement that it “immediately upon being informed of the matter since the year 2021, instructed the oil facilities to conduct the required tenders in order to pack these materials in a safe, scientific manner in order to transport them.”
Tenders have been held since 2022, within the legal procedures, and one of them was awarded on 12/22/2022 to the Italian company Garco. The Minister of Energy did everything necessary in this context and gave the company special permission to take samples from the premises of the facilities, and sent letters to the concerned authorities to inform them of the progress of matters. . After the aforementioned company hesitated several times to implement the terms and conditions of the contract, the most important of which was placing a performance guarantee, the Ministry sent several letters and warnings to the aforementioned company without responding, which prompted the Ministry to terminate the contract.
The Ministry added, “Another tender was conducted on 1/15/2024 and was repeated on 2/15/2024 and again on 2/26/2024, as a sufficient number of bidders did not apply.” And once again, “a tender was also held after consulting the Public Procurement Authority, and its offers will be opened on 3/12/2024, that is, next Tuesday, to be awarded to one of the companies that will transfer these materials.”
It should be noted that the Minister of Energy, Walid Fayyad, had signed a decision in which he addressed the oil facilities in Tripoli, urging them to “reduce the period for announcing public tenders related to the public tender launched by the Ministry of Energy and Water – the oil facilities in Tripoli and Zahrani, to conduct the aforementioned tender, to 15 days.” A day to submit offers, given the urgency required to secure the transfer of hazardous materials from the campuses of the oil facilities in Tripoli and Al-Zahrani.
ظهرت في الأصل على www.almodon.com