RMF’s Executive Director Michel Moawad paid an official visit to the Minister of Energy & Water Cesar Abi Khalil. Were present in the meeting, the Minister of State for Presidency Affairs Pierre Raffoul and Minister Abi Khalil’s advisor Randa Al Nemr.
Moawad was accompanied by a delegation consisting of representatives from the municipalities and towns that will be benefitting from the wastewater and sewage system projects for which a fund of 2 Million Euro has been reserved by Minister Abi Khalil. The delegation included the mayors of Ardeh, Rachiine, Meriata, Al Kadiriyya, Ashash and Haret El Fewwar, the deputy-mayor of Alma, and the mokhtar of Kefraya.

After the meeting, Moawad said:
“This visit to His Excellency the Minister of Energy is a visit focused on development matters ‘par excellence’.  It is a visit to thank him in my name and in the name of the mayors and residents of Zgharta-Zawiyat for the fund of 2 Million Euro that has been reserved for the execution of two wastewater collectors projects. These projets were vital for the Zgharta Caza.

“The first collector is known as the Al Chardani wastewater collector. It is one of the main lines from the Rachiine river. Its execution will solve the biggest part of the pollution that the river is suffering from. This pollution is not only spreading across the Zgharta Caza, but it even reaches Tripoli. The execution of the project will save the environment and the local inhabitants from the health hazards and diseases that they were incurring. This project is revitalizing and reviving the economy in the Rachiine riverside area that lives on Agriculture and Tourism.
As part of this Rachiine river project, Minister Abi Khalil has signed a new study to connect the main ramified line to the source of the river. What was missing was 1.6 km. We thank His Excellency for signing the decrees to move forward in the execution of this project.

“The second project is for Alma-Fawwar-Bedawi wastewater collector. The residents of the area were suffering from germs and diseases due to unhealthy conditions. 160.000 citizens will now be directly benefitting from these two projects.”

He added: “In our meeting, we also studied a variety of projects for the Zgharta Caza; a region that suffers from deprivation.”

Moawad continued: “We took the opportunity to invite His Excellency to patronize and participate in a conference that will work on establishing a comprehensive development plan. The conference will take place as soon as the Rachiine river project is completed. It will include the Ministry of Energy & Water, the Union of Municipalities, the international donors and RMF, which will all join efforts and come up with a comprehensive plan to address the priority-projects that the Zgharta Caza requires.
We also took the opportunity to thank His Excellency for the Ministry’s support and cooperation with RMF in the projects that it is implementing in partnership with international donors.

He also said: “And I would like to announce today that RMF is starting to do reparation works on the Kfarhata-Zgharta water reservoir along with the restoration of the well to link it with the main network. This will solve 60 to 70 % of the water crisis in Zgharta on a short term.

Moawad concluded by thanking ministers Abi Khalil and Raffoul “who was the ‘unknown soldier’ providing all the needed support and working hand in hand with us.” He also thanked “the municipalities and all the parties which participated in these projects aiming to lift the serious environmental harm that the Rachiine river and the other wastewater lines were incurring.”

Minister Abi Khalil

Minister Abi Khalil then spoke, praising “RMF’s role in implementing a variety of Water and Alternative Energy projects in many Lebanese regions, and the crucial role it played in the follow up on the Rachiine river pollution issue, and the Alma-Fawwar-Bedawi wastewater collector project.”