French Transportation Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari signed on Thursday a memorandum to provide Lebanon with 50 buses to help ease the country’s transport problem.
The signing of the decree ensued during a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Ali Hamieh and Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
While the move could be of help to Lebanon, professionals in the field commented that, in order for the plan to work, it needs thousands of buses in greater Beirut, along with regions in northern and southern Lebanon.
The fuel shortage and the recent hike in gasoline and diesel prices have exacerbated the commuting problem in Lebanon.
This transport problem in Lebanon is not new. Back in March 2018, the World Bank had approved a $295 million package to “overhaul Lebanon’s decaying transport sector and securing employment for thousands of unskilled Lebanese.”
However, the said Greater Beirut Public Transport Project (GBPTP) was not initiated. 2019 was the beginning of Lebanon’s multi-dimensional crisis, from the inflation, the economic crisis, the global pandemic, and the Beirut port explosion in 2020.
