The General Security Building in Beirut-USD 1.1 million for rent and renovation
Rent of the building
On January 9, 2014, an agreement was made between the Directorate General of General Security and the landlord Mohammad Samih Ghaddar who is also the head of the municipality of Ghazieh in South Lebanon for the lease of plots no. 780 and 782, the former to be used for parking and the latter as an office building. The agreement is for five years, from December 15, 2013 to December 14, 2018, the cost of rent being LBP 180 milion per year and may only be renewed upon the written approval by Samih Ghaddar.
Renovation of the building
It was known beforehand that the building located on plot no. 782 needed refurbishment and maintenance to be fit to accommodate the offices of Beirut’s General Security. To this end, Brigadier General Abbas Ibrahim wrote on October 21, 2013 a letter to the head of the municipality of Beirut, Dr. Bilal Hamad, requesting a contribution from the municipality to renovate the site in question. Brigadier General Abbas Ibrahim noted that “the restoration of the offices is of general benefit to all the residents of the capital as it will be designed to receive the citizens living and registered in the city and process their transactions.”Pursuant to decision no.46 dated January 10, 2014, Beirut’s municipal council agreed to allocate the General Security USD 500,000 (LBP 754 million) to renovate the building and the donation was approved by the government on May 8, 2014 pursuant to decree no. 11401.
Renovating and renting the offices for five years would thus cost in total USD 1.1 million. This exorbitant amount should have motivated an alternative course of action such as acquiring land from the state or the municipality of Beirut and constructing permanent headquarters for Beirut’s General Security on it, especially that the quoted costs would allow for the construction of a building of at least 3000 square meters.
Renting does not seem to be such a wise decision because the landlord may increase the rent in five years or request that the dwelling be vacated without any compensation, thus wasting the funds paid for renovation works that will last longer than five years. It is noteworthy that the government spends on renting premises close to LBP 113 billion annually
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